Hunting Decepticons
by Tactition101
Summary: RWBY/Transformers Prime Crossover. She was supposed to be dead. Cinder had pretty much erased her from existence after all, turning her body into nothing but ash. And yet, here she is, waking up in the back of a red Dodge Challenger with bull horns on the hood. The Decepticons better watch out, because Pyrrha Nikos has arrived.
1. Chapter 1

Hunting Decepticons

Summary: RWBY/Transformers Prime Crossover. She was supposed to be dead. Cinder had pretty much erased her from existence after all, turning her body into nothing but ash. And yet, here she is, waking up in the back of a red Dodge Challenger with bull horns on the hood. The Decepticons better watch out, because Pyrrha Nikos has arrived. (She might be slightly OOC due to minimal familiarity with RWBY, I apologize if that is the case.)

1\. New Partners

Story Start: A RWBY Verse, Top Of Beacon Academy

Normally, an arrow to the ankle wouldn't have stopped Pyrrha from continuing the fight, no matter how debilitating the injury. But normally, said arrow wasn't rapidly spreading what felt like literal fire up her veins, burning away at every nerve in the rapidly growing affected area, sending an unbelievable amount of pain through her system. After only moments of being shot, the fire was already up her entire leg and spreading beyond. Still, for all of her excruciating agony, Pyrrha did her best not to cry out and keep fighting. But even the act of moving from her knees onto her feet was proving impossible, but not because of limitations of her will, but rather limitations of time.

If all Cinder had done was fire the arrow then left, Pyrrha would have certainly managed to hold out for the last few moments before Ruby made it up the side of the tower. Unfortunately, the Maiden Usurper either wasn't feeling sadistic enough or just wanted to be efficient. Either way, she strode over and around to stand in front of Pyrrha and formed her bow and arrow a second time, drawing from only three feet away.

Smirking at her prey, Cinder said "It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours. But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways that you could never fathom."

Pyrrha grunted and straightened up as much as she could as she defyingly glared at her and said "I wouldn't _want_ to fathom how to use it the ways you're planning to."

"No, you probably wouldn't." Cinder acknowledged before she released her arrow.

As the burning weapon struck her chest, Pyrrha let out one last gasp of pain and looked down. Confusingly, the sight of her body beginning to break apart starting at the new wound didn't alarm her as much as she would have thought. The last thing she heard before she completely disintegrated was the shouted denial of Team RWBY's leader as she called out "No, Pyrrha!"

And then, nothing.

Scene Change: A Transformers Prime Verse

Despite all expectations, Pyrrha found herself opening her eyes with a groan. Looking around, she found herself in the passenger seat of a car that for some reason had bull horns on the front of its hood. Also for some reason, there was no one in the driver seat and the car was just standing by itself behind a large boulder with its engine cut off. A further scan of her surroundings showed that there was a road on the other side of the boulder but except for the vehicle she was in Pyrrha couldn't detect any metal with her Semblance so either the driver of the vehicle was on the other side of the rock and not wearing metal or she really was alone in the strange area. But more importantly…

Groaning again as she put a hand on her head, Pyrrha asked herself "How did I wind up here?"

She has no problem admitting she was startled enough to jump in her seat as a voice coming from the car's speakers said "That's what I would like to know pretty lady. After all, it's not every day a human just appears in one of my seats while I'm on patrol."

"Who?" Pyrrha started to ask as she looked around in confusion only to yelp as the car around her began shifting and in a flurry of moving metal she found herself sitting in the palm of a large red robot that had horns on either side of his head. Pyrrha could only stare as the robot cocked his head and said "Why don't we start with something that you should be able to answer. What's your name human?"

"Pyrrha Nikos, and you?" Pyrrha asked. After all, this thing may have been made out of metal, but the intelligence, and more importantly, curiosity in the robot's face showed that whatever else could be said about him, this thing was clearly self aware.

Smirking, the robot said "The name's Cliffjumper kid."

"Cliffjumper." Pyrrha said, testing the strange name before she cocked her head and said "Not to be rude Cliffjumper, but _what_ are you?" After all, while Remnant was full of weapons that could shift forms and Atlas had plenty of robotic tech, she had never heard anything about robots that could turn into vehicles so well that no one would be able to guess what they actually were.

"Well, that could take some explaining." Cliffjumper said, settling into a crossed leg seating position against the boulder and setting Pyrrha on his right knee. Pyrrha imitated his stance as Cliffjumper began explaining about Cybertronians and how they came to be on the planet Earth._ Earth_, not Remnant. It seemed that Pyrrha was even more lost than she had originally thought.

Time Skip: One Year Later

Cliffjumper was rolling down a country road with Pyrrha behind his wheel, though if one looked closer they would have seen that while her hands were on the wheel, her feet were kept well away from the pedals. Pyrrha was no longer wearing her armor, which would have drawn more than a few odd looks and instead was wearing jeans and a red torso t shirt with blue sleeves and a golden W on its front with the words "Amazonian Badass" under it, a shirt that Cliffjumper had talked her into buying. As the pair traveled down the road, Pyrrha had a smile on her face as she listened to a conversation between her partner and his _other_ partner.

"So there I am on a lookout when out of nowhere these high beams light up my rearview. And then it hits me, I'm illegally parked!"

"_Another parking ticket?"_

"Better, the boot."

"_Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove."_

"Bingo! The local police do their thing and I let them get all the way down the block. That's when I kick off my new shiny shoe and BANG!"

"_New York's finest soil themselves."_

Cliffjumper chuckled and said "You know me, Arcee, mess with Cliffjumper-"

"_And you get the horns._ _You see, this is why Optimus decided you needed Pyrrha as a second partner Cliff, because when she's not around you just can't help getting into trouble."_

Pyrrha giggled at that and Cliffjumper said "You say that like that's a bad thing."

"_It is. You do recall that Autobot rule number one is 'Keep a low profile' right?"_ Arcee asked and both human and bot could swear that they actually saw a raised eyebrow in the tone of Arcee's voice.

"What can I say, scouting for Energon with no one but Pyrrha to talk with for hours at the time gets boring. There's only so many times we can play I Spy or License Plates before it gets boring. Heh, almost makes me miss the Decepticons."

"He does have a point there Arcee." Pyrrha said with a nod, not that the two wheeler could see it.

"_Like Jasper Nevada's a party? Face it you two, with us Autobots having to hide and Pyrrha having to keep a lid on her abilities, we're alone where ever we travel on this rock."_

Pyrrha let out a sigh and said "Sad but true. It's not like I can just start unlocking people's Aura left and right, no matter how much Special Agent Fowler and General Bryce would wish otherwise. This world's got enough problems without introducing what amounts to superpowers into the mix."

Anything that would have been further said was interrupted as Cliffjumper's dashboard screen began pinging and he said "I'm getting a signal."

"_Need backup?"_ Arcee asked, her attention piqued by the interruption to the monotony of patrol.

"Nah, Pyrrha and I can handle it." Cliffjumper said easily before he turned off the road and half a minute later he skidded to a stop on the edge of a circular pit and at the sight of the crystals at the bottom said "We just found a whooole lot of Energon!"

"That ain't all we found Cliff, I'm picking up a massive amount of metal in the sky heading our way." Pyrrha said with a frown as she glanced back out of his driver seat window. She quickly hopped out and Cliffjumper transformed and turned to look upwards and seeing the massive ship appearing said "Decepticons."

Seeing one of the guns on the bottom of the hull turn towards them, Pyrrha's eyes widened and she shouted "MOVE!" Cliffjumper and her dove apart and Pyrrha used her semblance to yank her belt buckle along her flight path in order to get clear in time. Landing, she took quick note that Cliffjumper had been thrown into the pit but otherwise seemed fine. Turning her attention back to the ship, she frowned as a hatch opened and several Vehicon drones dropped out of the ship and landed heavily on the ground near her.

Most of the Vehicons ignored her, instead forming and pointing their blasters down at Cliffjumper, but one of them walked forward and bent down, clearly intending to take her prisoner. Pyrrha though _didn't_ intend to be taken prisoner, and even as Cliffjumper was asking Arcee for the offered back up she was already moving. Leaping up onto the Vehicon's outstretched hand, Pyrrha ran up his arm, pulling out the Desert Eagle Fowler had been so generous to get for her. (And yes, she DID have a permit for it.) Reaching the head fast enough that the Vehicon hadn't even had time to realize that he had missed his grab, Pyrrha put the barrel of her gun right next to the vulnerable section where head met neck and fired three rounds. The .50 bullets only penetrated about six inches, but that was more than enough for Pyrrha who immediately used her Semblance to rip the bullets upwards and into the central processing unit of the Vehicon, aka it's brain pan. The Vehicon gave a single twitch before it toppled over, earning the attention of all of the other Vehicons who turned from Cliffjumper.

There was a moment of silence as the drones took in the surprising sight of a human somehow killing one of their own. A moment which Pyyrha took full advantage of as she used her Polarity Semblance to grip the closest still living drone, yanked him a foot in the air and then swung him in a wide arc that knocked all but two of the Vehicons off their feet. Cliffjumper joined the fight at that point, roaring up the pit wall in Challenger form and leaping into the air. Transforming in midair, he formed his blasters on both hands and shot the two still standing Vehicons putting them out of action. As he landed, the knocked over Vehicons got back on their feet and seeing him as the bigger threat, literally, began engaging Cliffjumper in hand to hand.

More visible target or not, any Cybertronian who ignored Pyrrha pays for that mistake. Pyrrha singled out the Vehicon closest to her and gripped it in her Semblance. Gritting her teeth, she glanced skyward at the still hovering ship and gave a flick of her hand. Immediately, the Vehicon shot skyward, screaming in surprised fear as he rushed headlong up to the ship and collided into its underside. Needless to say, when Vehicon went against Ship, Ship wins and the unlucky drone shattered to pieces. Pieces which Pyrrha then sent shooting back down into the fight at a speed comparable to a bullet which slammed into the rest of the Cons on the ground. And where her bullets barely penetrated, _these_ fast traveling objects easily punctured the last few Vehicons' chassis and they all fell to the ground.

Cliffjumper gave the destruction around him a low whistle before he smirked at Pyrrha and said "Nice going partner." He then pouted and said "But couldn't you have left me more than just two of them?"

"Sorry." Pyrrha said with a smile before she turned her gaze upwards as the ship began rapidly pulling away. Cocking her head in confusion, she asked "Why are they running instead of shooting at us again?"

"Probably worried you'd do something to blow up their guns." Cliffjumper said as they watched the ship rapidly leave the area.

"Well they're not wrong on that." Pyrrha mused before bot and human's attention was turned to a glowing portal that appeared nearby and the five Autobots that came out with weapons out and ready.

"Hey Arcee, you guys completely missed the party." Cliffjumper said with a grin and a wave.

"Aw man!" Bulkhead said, his shoulders sagging, an action followed by Bumblebee as all of the Autobots turned their weapons back into their default hands.

Optimus strode over with Ratchet and said "Pyrrha, Cliffjumper, are the two of you alright?"

"Fine, not even a scratch. Honestly, I barely even had to do anything thanks to Pyrrha." Cliffjumper said with a grin and a hand gesture to his partner.

As the rest of the Autobots turned their gazes to Pyrrha, she gave a slightly embarrassed smile and said "Apparently my Semblance is rather effective against Decepticons."

Arcee snorted and said "Gee, who would have thought that magnetics would be a good weapon against giant robots." Shaking her head with a grin, she turned to the pit and let out a whistle as she said "Wow, look at all that Energon."

"Indeed, you two have done well in defending both yourselves and the Energon." Optimus said, giving them a nod of approval which they returned. After that, the six Autobots and Pyrrha began the process of removing said Energon from the area and back to their base over the next half hour. What could have been a disaster for the Autobots had turned into quite the windfall instead.

Scene Change: The Nemesis

Starscream growled to himself on the bridge as he muttered "I thought that humans were unable to combat Cybertronians. Clearly our information was wrong."

Behind him, Soundwave played an audio clip of a transmission he had recently gathered _"Like Jasper Nevada's a party? Face it you two, with us Autobots having to hide and Pyrrha having to keep a lid on her abilities, we're alone where ever we travel on this rock."_

"_Sad but true. It's not like I can just start unlocking people's Aura left and right, no matter how much Special Agent Fowler and General Bryce would wish otherwise. This world's got enough problems without introducing what amounts to superpowers into the mix."_

"Hm, so that human was an anomaly, that's reassuring." Starscream mused before he turned to face Soundwave and said "Send a team to this Jasper, Nevada. I want Arcee captured and brought here so that she may tell me more about this 'Pyrrha', as well as the location of the Autobots' base of course."

Soundwave nodded and Starscream turned back to view the forward screen as the communication's officer relayed his orders.

Scene Change: Jasper Nevada

With the return of the Decepticons after three years of there being no sign of them, Optimus was rightly worried about any possible Decepticon activity in the area of their base. So the team was spread out around the surrounding fifty miles doing a thorough search, which included the town the former missile silo that was now their base was located in close proximity to.

As Arcee drove down a street, her side mirrors picked up two cars turning on the road after her and she ground out to herself "Great, they ARE in the area."

Using her smaller form, Arcee was able to put enough cars between her and the Cons that she felt it was safe to pull into the parking lot of a burger joint. Popping her kick stand, she said "Take five Sadie." and her hologram faded out while she contacted the others and said "Arcee here, two Decepticons spotted in town."

"Understood, maintain vehicular mode cover for as long as possible, we are enroute." Optimus ordered.

"Gotcha." Arcee said before falling silent as a teenager came out of the restaurant.

The teen stopped his walk to his bike when his phone rang and he pulled it out flipping it open as he said "Hey mom, I just got off work." Frowning at what his mom said on the other end, he said "No, I'm not going to the dance. Experience suggests I should never cut a rug." He then smirked as he said "Unless I'm installing carpet."

'Smooth kid.' Arcee thought, a small bit of reluctant amusement flitting through her mind at that.

Giving an exasperated sigh, the teen said "Be careful? Seriously? This is Jasper." He then laid eyes on Arcee and an awestruck look passed over his face. Scratch that, make it lovestruck as he impulsively said lowly to himself "I love you." Seeming to snap himself back to awareness, he said into his phone "Uh, I love you too, mom, I gotta go."

Hanging up his phone, he walked over to Arcee and said "Hello, beautiful. Where have you been all my life?" Idly running his hand along Arcee's saddle he grinned and said "Nice." Straddling her, he said "It may take a few K.O Paychecks, but I am gonna own a ride like you someday."

'I highly doubt you'll find one like me smooth talker.' Arcee thought in amusement. Honestly, the way some humans could see simple machines as objects with their own personalities was a selling point for their race in her books. Still, as amusing as it was, she was getting anxious. Those Cons were still in the area after all. The longer she stayed in one spot, the more likely she was about to be spotted again.

Unfortunately, another human, this one a female teenager was nearby and had seen what the boy was doing. Sounding slightly awkward, she asked "Are you talking to your _motorcycle_?"

Turning flustered, the boy said "My motorcycle? No, I mean, yes, yes! It's mine, but I-I'm not talking- It was to you! I-Iam. How's things, Sierra? Take you for a spin sometime?"

'Graceful recovery when surprised is NOT one of this guy's strong points.' Arcee thought in amusement before she mentally 'stiffened' as her mirrors picked up two purple cars turning at the far end of the parking lot and thought 'Aw, _scrap_.'

"You know my name?" Sierra asked surprised and slightly weirded out.

"Uh, yeah, we have Chemistry and Home Room together. The name's Jack, Jack Darby?" Jack said with a cocked head.

"Oh." Sierra said, now sounding slightly embarrassed that she hadn't actually noticed Jack during said classes.

Before their conversation could get any further though, high beams snapped on, illuminating the two kids and Arcee. As the two Decepticons roared towards them, Arcee thought to herself 'Right, time's up!' Suddenly revving, she popped her front tire and spun around, Jack letting out a loud yell of surprise before he hung on for dear life as Arcee tore out of the burger joint like a bat out of hell. As she fled down the street, she called out "Do not let go!"

"Who said that?!" Jack asked, completely freaked out.

After two hundred yards, Arcee made a sharp turn into a set of connected alleyways and screeched to a stop. As Jack hastily got off, he asked "What are you?"

Turning her front wheel to him, she said "Let me give you some advice kid, start running, drop me from your memory, and never mention this to anyone, _got it_?"

"Got it." Jack said before he took off down the left connecting alley. Arcee continued straight just as the Cons followed them in.

Seeing one of the cars turn left after the teen, Arcee let out a sharp "Scrap!" Before popping her front wheel again in a sharp turn, quickly charging the Con that had followed her and drove over it to get back to the intersection. Hearing Jack yell out "I don't even know her!" had her accelerating as she leapt over the Con and called out "Hop on!" Soon as Jack was on her, she accelerated again and shot out of the alleyway onto the street and made her way for the highway.

As red blaster bolts bracketed them, Jack let out a cry of alarm and hunkered down with his hands over his head as he asked "Why are those guys shooting at us?!"

"There's no us kid, and they ain't guys either, just hang on!" Arcee said, accelerating even more as they entered the highway. As they shot down the highway, Bumblebee came up on a merger behind the cars and pit maneuvered one of the Cons into another.

Seeing this, Jack asked "Friend of yours?"

"Family." Arcee said before she spotted a closed off portion of the road for construction work on a bridge and said "Hang on kid."

"What? Whoa!" Jack asked then yelled as Arcee rushed down the side of the embankment before leaping in the air over the concrete side and landing in the middle of the drainage channel.

"Whoa." A young kid said in awe from where he had been sitting against the wall of the channel, a remote control in his hands and a small rc car in front of him.

"You have no idea." Jack said, quickly getting off of Arcee.

Before anything else could be said, the two Cons came barreling down the embankment and as they drove off of the concrete portion transformed in midair with blasters already out. Arcee transformed behind Jack and stepped around him as she narrowed her eyes and said "This ends here Cons."

She dashed forward, avoiding the blaster shots the Cons sent at her and jump kicked one Con in the face knocking him to the ground before she laid a series of punches on the other's face. Unfortunately, all that did was push the Con's face to the side and when it looked back at Arcee, the band of glass that covered its optics glowed a brighter red than before. The other Con then started firing and Arcee backflipped away from the pair but a shot hit her and she tumbled to the ground groaning.

As the Cons walked over towards her though, Bumblebee, who had been pit maneuvered himself a little earlier, drove off the bridge transforming as he dropped and landed right on top of one of the Cons and punched the other in the face hard enough to knock him back. He stepped off of his landing cushion only to stiffen as he heard a crunch under his feet. Looking down and lifting his foot up, he saw the crushed car and turning to the boys made an apologizing sound.

"No problem, really." The younger boy said only for him and Jack to wince as Bumblebee got blasted back by a blaster bolt. The Cons moved to put their blasters at Bumblebee from point blank range and the kid yelled out "Leave him alone!" Gulping when the Cons turned their blasters towards him, he meekly asked "Please?"

"Bad call." Jack said and as one of the cons started walking towards them pulled the kid after him and shouted "Come on! Come on!" They ran along the embankment wall until they reached an opening which held a drainage pipe and quickly scrambled in. The pursuing drone reached in and almost managed to grab Jack only to fall short as the drone was yanked away.

Jack and the kid stopped to look back only to see Bumblebee's face appeared as he said something to which the kid replied "Thank you."

Putting his hand on the kid's shoulders, Jack said "Don't look back."

"What did we just see?" The kid asked as Jack pushed him into walking again.

"No idea, and I'm not sure I want to find out." Was his reply as the two continued moving down the pipe.

Back outside, Bumblebee was thrown back to Arcee's position by the pair of Cons ganging up at him. But before the fight could continue, the sound of engines revving from behind the Cons had them turning. Cliffjumper did his vehicle form's model proud as he charged in at seventy five miles per hour down the channel before he suddenly transformed, doing a somersault before he came up on his feet in a throwing motion launching Pyrrha at the Cons. The action surprised the Cons so much that they didn't react in time before Pyrrha landed on the face of the Con on the right and slapped her hands on his face. The Con gave one full body twitch as Pyrrha's polarity twisted the circuits inside his brain pan out of shape before toppling over. The left Con got taken out an instant later by Cliffjumper's shot burning a hole into his head.

Chuckling as he walked over, Cliffjumper smirked down at his human partner and said "Nicely done there little lady."

"You weren't too bad yourself there cowboy." Pyrrha played along with a smile.

As Bumblebee and Arcee walked over to join them, there was the sound of revving engines again and the group looked down the opposite way to see Bulkhead come roaring in. Transforming and skidding to a stop, he said "Oh come on, I missed the fight _again_?!"

"That's what you get for choosing off road first and speed second big guy." Arcee said with a smirk, Bumblebee chirping in laughing agreement causing Bulkhead to pout which in turn set Pyrrha off, the redhead raising a hand to her mouth as she giggled.

Scene Change: Autobot Outpost Omega One

Optimus frowned as he listened to his fighters' report about the engagement, more specifically at the fact that two boys had witnessed the end. Turning away from his station, he said "If the Decepticons are actively targeting us then anyone perceived as our ally will be at grave risk. Bring them in."

The Autobots and Pyrrha nodded and the Huntress said "Tomorrow's Friday so they should be at the school tomorrow, we can get them when it lets out."

Optimus nodded and that was that.

Scene Change: Jasper High, The Next Day

Even with all of her training, Pyrrha Nikos was still a high school aged girl. Agent Fowler and Optimus had both insisted that she continued her education. A little bit of legal forgery on Unit E's part had Pyrrha gaining a background as a home school student who had to join the normal education system due to unspecified extenuating circumstances involving her parents leaving the country for a while.

She was a fairly good student but she obviously had a weak spot in US History. Unfortunately, this meant that Pyrrha was waylaid from approaching the two boys by the teacher of her last class asking her to stay behind after the bell rang to discuss a paper that she had turned in yesterday. It wasn't a necessarily long discussion, but by the time she exited the building fifteen minutes later a _third_ child had seen the bots, a Japanese exchange student no less.

After being told what had happened by her partner, Pyrrha sighed and muttered "Murphy must be laughing himself sick right now."

"Probably, he's a jerk like that." Cliffjumper said, though amusement was easily heard in his voice as he turned over his engine and the pair pulled out of the parking lot and made their way out of the town. They caught up with Bumblebee and Arcee soon enough and followed them back to base.

As they pulled into the main room and the humans dismounted, Ratchet looked down at them and said "I thought that there were two."

"Haven't you heard? Humans multiply." Arcee said dryly.

"I'm Raf." The younger boy said.

"I'm Miko." The transfer student said, running over to Bulkhead and asked "Who are you?"

"Bulkhead." The Wrecker answered.

Gasping, Miko started rapid firing chattering as she asked "Are you a car? I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever used a wrecking ball for a punching bag?" At that point, Bulkhead looked quite lost.

"So if you guys are robots, who made you?" Raf asked.

"Oh, _puh-lease_." Ratchet said with a scoff.

The sound of thumping footsteps had the three turning around to see Optimus. The big guy looked down at them and said "We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots."

"Why are you here?" Jack asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." Optimus answered.

"The jokers that tried to bump us off last night." Arcee explained.

"Oh-kay, why are _they_ here?" Jack asked again.

Kneeling down, Optimus said "A fair question, Jack. In part they are here because our planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war."

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked.

"For most, over control of our world supply of energon, the fuel and life-blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one who I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way." Optimus explained.

"Is there going to be a quiz?" Miko asked with a yawn.

Pyrrha frowned at the other girl but before she could say anything about this being important, Jack asked "So what does this Megatron, or any of this have to do with us?"

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in sometime. But if his return is imminent as I fear, it could be catastrophic." Optimus said.

Scene Change: The Nemesis

There was a beeping sound coming from Soundwave as he approached Starscream. The Commander of the ship turned towards him and said "Those transmissions are emanating from deep space. I would hate to waste the Energon, unless you are absolutely certain." At Soundwave's nod, he gave a disgruntled groan and glanced at a Vehicon at the space bridge control station and said "Then lock on transmission coordinates and activate the space bridge."

The Con nodded and worked at his station. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere a massive machine activated, a space bridge portal forming and a Cybertronian jet flew out before it transformed and the being yelled out "Decepticons! I have returned."

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on Profile (Please vote on Poll, it currently only has _**SIX**_ votes and is a VERY important poll so _PLEEEEEAASE!_)

Oh boy, working FIVE NIGHTS IN A ROW really kills my ability to get anything done during those days in between. Donating blood on the day that I planned to do final proofread didn't help either. Still, could have been worse, I DID have half of this chapter already written for the Potential Stories cache.

Also, I did a little bit of shuffling for my _planned_ roster. When I first updated the schedule with this mass story additions to the roster my planned RWBY stories were near the end of the roster. I thought that since this was a RWBY crossover that it would make slightly more sense to have those two come after this story. Also, this gives me a little more leeway in getting High Winds caught up. That second chapter for the three version One Piece stories are quite the doozy after all, being at around 20 pages! (To put that in perspective, Fish Tales is currently at 51 pages, and I've been working on that off and on for years.)


	2. Chapter 2

2\. A Mine And A Zombie

Quick AN: Sorry for the delay, the day I actually started on this my laptop decided to crash on me after I got a solid half hour of work done and stupid me didn't save periodically so I was left with nothing but the Previously segment. :(

_Previously: The Nemesis_

_There was a beeping sound coming from Soundwave as he approached Starscream. The Commander of the ship turned towards him and said "Those transmissions are emanating from deep space. I would hate to waste the Energon, unless you are absolutely certain." At Soundwave's nod, he gave a disgruntled groan and glanced at a Vehicon at the space bridge control station and said "Then lock on transmission coordinates and activate the space bridge."_

_The Con nodded and worked at his station. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere a massive machine activated, a space bridge portal forming and a Cybertronian jet flew out before it transformed and the being yelled out "Decepticons! I have returned."_

Now: Decpticon Mine In Nebraska

The Nemesis began descending over a mountain. As it lowered its grav lift and began bringing Energon up from the mines into its hold Starscream said "Of the energon deposits we have located while you were away, Lord Megatron, this one is by far the most significant. The drones have been mining without a pause during your absence, and have amassed quite a stockpile. You there! Fetch me a sample!"

"Starscream!" Megatron barked, causing the flyer to jump. Moving out of the shadows, he said "Now that I have returned I will issue the commands."

"I Understand, Lord Megatron." Starscream said contritely before he rallied and continued "Then as your humble servant, shall I ready the Space Bridge to bring forth the Decepticon army you have surely gathered during your three years in space?"

Megatron smirked and said "My army will come. But my time away has yielded a more intriguing means of materializing them. The solidified form of the matter the ancient texts referred to as the Blood of Unicron!"

"Unicron the Destroyer? But it is said that his blood is the anti-Spark!" Starscream said, examining the purple shard Megatron produced.

"Plucked from cosmic shores, gaze upon Dark Energon!" Megatron declared proudly.

"Legend tells that it holds the power to revive the dead." Starscream said in the tone that story tellers the world over used when telling ghost stories.

"We require only a cadaver to be certain. Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?" Megatron asked with a raised eyebrow and smirk.

"Hehehe, ahem, that may not be necessary. We have unfortunately had a couple of run ins with the Autobots before your arrival." Starscream said, fake morosely. The elevator came back down as he spoke. Soundwave, near all knowing surveillance specialist that he was, had already ordered one of the bodies from one of the mentioned run ins brought down. Megatron merely let out a hum as he studied the dead drone, noting how it seemed to only have a couple of holes in its neck area to explain its death.

Scene Change: Autobot Outpost Omega One

"And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night the Decepticons know of yours." Optimus said, finishing his explanation.

"Got it, we spot any strange vehicles, call 911 - Can we go now?" Jack asked, pointing back down the tunnel.

Miko looked at him incredulously and asked "Are you insane? I'm living a dream here in Bots-wana and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!"

"It is best that you three remain under our watch. At least until we can determine our enemies' intentions."

"Three, what about her?" Raf asked, pointing at Pyrrha.

"I came upon the Autobots by pure happenstance a year ago, my situation is a bit different than yours." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Optimus, with all due respect, these new human children are in as much danger _here_ as anywhere!" Ratchet said with a severe frown.

"Children?!" Jack repeated in agitation.

Ratchet flicked his optics down at him before looking back at Optimus and continued "They have no protective shell, not even Aura like Pyrrha possesses! If they get underfoot they will go Squish!" Ratchet lightly stomped his right foot in example.

Raf's quiet question of "Aura?" was left unanswered as Optimus smiled and said "Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step."

Before the conversation could continue, and alarm began blaring with a set of green lights also beginning to pulse overhead.

"What's that?" Jack asked in concern.

Bumblebee said something while pointing upwards and Raf translated "Proximity sensor, someone's up top."

"It's agent Fowler." Ratchet said, looking at his monitor where a camera was showing a helicopter on the top with the special agent walking to the elevator entrance with brisk steps.

"I thought we were the only humans who know about you guys." Jack asked in confusion.

"They wouldn't be able to use this place as a base if that was the case." Pyrrha said with a shake of her head.

Optimus nodded at Pyrrha before turning to Jack and explained "Special agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world. As he tends to visit only when there are issues, it may be best if you do not meet him at this time."

As the children quickly hid, the elevator came down to their level. Once the doors opened, Agent Fowler didn't waste time, speaking as soon as the doors open as he strode out saying "Seven wrecks, thirty four fender benders, a three hour traffic jam, and on particular note numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and a black-and-yellow custom muscle car!" Reaching the railing, he leaned a little further out to be closer to Optimus' face as he asked " So, anything you care to get off your tin chest, Prime?"

"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler." Optimus said calmly.

Agent Fowler raised an eyebrow and asked "They're back, aren't they?"

Optimus gained a slight frown as he said "If you are referring to the Decepticons I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable."

"Then it's time to wake up the Pentagon." Agent Fowler said with a larger frown.

"Hear me, Agent Fowler. We are your best, possibly your only defense against the Decepticon threat." Optimus said solemnly.

"Says you." Agent Fowler retorted.

"Hey, fleshy! Did anyone get splattered on that freeway?" Bulkhead asked gaining everyone's attention. Swiping a piece of machinery from where it was fastened to Ratchet's work station, he continued "Team Prime knows when to use force. And how much to use."

His display of further crunching the device in his hand would have been rather impactful...if Ratchet hadn't immediately said in dismay "Bulkhead! I needed that!"

"Enough!" Optimus ordered before turning back to Agent Fowler and said "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot."

"Then do us both a favor and handle this, Prime! Under the radar. Or I will." Agent Fowler said before he turned to look at Pyrrha and said "You're not the only ones we need to keep out of the public eye after all."

Pyrrha gave a nod at Agent Fowler's words and he gave a slight huff before turning around and going back into the elevator. As the car quickly shot back up to the roof Bulkhead said "Pretty big bearings, for a human."

"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world Bulkhead, as he should be." Optimus said, glancing up towards the roof.

"Uh, why was he looking at her like that when he said there were others that need to be kept out of the public eye?" Raf asked as the Kids came out of hiding.

Pyrrha smiled and said "Let's just say that I'm not exactly the most normal person around these parts."

Her vague answer had the Kids looking at each other in confusion.

Scene Change: Decepticon Mine

"Let us see if power born of darkness can reignite the spark." Megatron intoned before he stabbed the cadaver with the shard of Dark Energon. The dark substance sank into the drone's body. A body which began glowing with purple veins of light. A rather savage snarl came from the drone as it shot up into a seated position, purple lights replacing the normal red of its optic slits. Everyone, Starscream, the two drones that had brought the cadaver, even Megatron took a few steps back. The Zombiecon locked onto one of the drones and let out a roar before launching itself off the hoversled and began pummeling its former comrade. Naturally, the assaulted Con tried to fight back with its blaster only to lose that arm and be pummeled even more.

Seeing his buddy in trouble, the other drone began rapid firing his own blaster but that only made him the next target as the Zombiecon tackled him further into the tunnel and started pummeling.

"That's your plan?!" Starscream asked in fear, gesturing into the tunnel as he continued "Bring our forces back from the dead to attack us and save the Autobots the trouble?!"

"That is no longer a Decepticon. Just a mindless beast, its only instinct to destroy anything in its path." Megatron said calmly. The Zombiecon soon came back into the light, letting out a savage yell before it came charging at them. Megatron unsheathed his blade and sliced the undead from right hip to left shoulder. As the drone fell to pieces, it also fell off the side. The top part had managed to grab the cliff though and was beginning to climb up only to find Megatron's foot on its face.

Staring down at it disinterestedly, Megatron kicked it off to crash into one of the lower levels and said "There, Starscream, lies the indestructible seed of my army. The ultimate weapon! Once I learn to control it."

Starscream stepped forward and looked down at the Zombiecon remains, an eager smile replacing his look of fear as Megatron spoke.

Scene Change: Omega One

Ratchet's station began rapidly beeping and the Medic approached it. A moment later, he said "That's odd."

"What is it Ratchet?" Arcee asked as the rest of the bots walked over, the Kids quickly running up the nearby steps onto the first concrete platform to be closer to the rest height wise (Pyrrha had at some point in the last few minutes taken her usual spot on Cliffjumper's shoulder and so was already high enough.)

"My sensors are detecting a strange energy signature. It _appears_ to have a similar energy signature as energon but...corrupted somehow?" Turning to look at Optimus, he continued "I have never seen anything like it before." Ratchet cocked his head and said "It IS coming from an area that DOES have a large amount of the normal kind of Energon though. I suspect it is emanating from a Decepticon mine."

"More Energon for us and less for the Cons is always a good thing." Bulkhead said, slamming his fists together.

"And it is likely that this altered Energon signal is a result of Decepticon experimentation, investigating this signal would be a prudent action." Optimus said with a nod.

"Hey! What can we do?" Miko asked excitedly.

"Remain with Ratchet." Optimus said, causing Miko to groan, shortly followed by Ratchet. Pyrrha smiled in amusement.

"Autobots, roll out!" Optimus ordered and all of the field Autobots transformed then rolled down the Ground Bridge tunnel.

"What Just happened?" Jack asked in surprise.

"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the Ground Bridge." Ratchet explained.

"What's a 'ground bridge'?" Raf asked.

"Ugh A scaled down version of Space Bridge technology." Ratchet said, a bit grumpy having to explain as he continued "Since we don't currently possess the means or the energon required for intergalactic travel."

"You're stuck here. On Earth." Jack said in realization.

"With the likes of you, yes." Ratchet said, still grumpy but noticeably perking up as he continued "But I constructed the Ground Bridge, to enable travel from here to _anywhere_ on your planet."

"Wow! Does it work for humans?" Raf asked.

"Naturally." Ratchet said with a nod.

"You mean I could just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asked as she walked to stand closer to Ratchet.

"Within moments." Ratchet said before he leaned down with a smirk and continued "In fact allow me to send you there immediately, all three of you."

"Watch it, Ratchet." Miko said with a smirk, a look in her eyes making Ratchet a little bit uncertain.

"Hey!" Jack said, gaining everyone's attention. The others looked at him to see him sweeping the room with his confused gaze as he asked "Where's Pyrrha?"

"With the others of course." Ratchet said with a wave of dismissal.

The Kids' eyes all widened and Jack asked "Why in the world is she with them?! She could get hurt!"

Ratchet smirked and said "Ooh, I very much doubt that."

Scene Change: Decepticon Mine

The Autobots shot out of the ground bridge and transformed in a combat spread. They were in a large cavern with large energon crystals surrounding them and Bulkhead said "Ratchet was right, energon mine."

"Judging by its scale the Decepticons have been tunneling here for quite some time." Optimus said before he took out a scanner. A moment of study later, he pointed down the tunnel they were facing and said "The energy signature is down that way."

"Do we do this quietly or quickly?" Pyrrha asked.

Optimus was silent for a moment, studying the amount of mining Decepticons behind the cover that they had luckily arrived behind. After a moment, he said "The odds of us keeping our presence hidden until we have acquired what we seek and are ready to return to base are almost nonexistent with how large our group is. I believe doing this quickly from the start is the best option."

"Works for me." Bulkhead said with an eager grin. The Autobots began walking behind cover, Pyrrha jumping down from Cliffjumper's shoulder, drawing and taking off the safety of her Desert Eagle before doing the same. With Optimus and Bulkhead's heavy treads the Decepticon miners heard them coming after only ten steps and began firing at the Autobots. Said Autobots began tearing through them, Arcee actually jumping onto a drone's shoulders before leaping off in a twisting motion, taking the drone's head with her between her feet.

One rather unlucky drone caught Pyrrha's attention due to the fact that he was using both of his blasters, firing them at a rapid pace. Quickly dashing across the floor of the mine unnoticed thanks to how small she was compared to everyone else, Pyrrha got behind the drone and jumped up onto his back. Hands pressed against his body, Pyrrha manipulated his arms to point at all of the other drones, taking five of them out rapidly before her current turret realized what was happening. The drone turned his blasters back into hands and tried to reach for Pyrrha on his back only for the Huntress to use her polarity to crush his spark chamber with his own innards causing him to fall to the floor. She quickly leapt onto Cliffjumper's roof as her partner shot by, following the other Autobots as they made their way further into the mine.

Scene Change: Omega Outpost One

Ratchet had been smugly reticent in explaining why Pyrrha would be fine with the Autobots. Not being able to get anything else out of him, Miko had grown bored and was looking around. Staring at a strange device on the corner of one of the concrete platforms, her finger inched towards it as she asked "What is this anyway?"

"Broken, don't touch it." Ratchet said, walking past. An instant later as Miko moved her finger, he said "Don't touch that either."

"Is there anything in here we _can_ touch?" Jack asked wryly as he walked up to stand next to Miko.

Ratchet turned to look at him only for a loud beeping sound to come from his monitor and an error screen to pop up causing him to look at it.

Raf got his attention next when he asked from the platform with the more normal for human sized monitors "How come you guys are using human computers?"

"It certainly isn't by choice! It was handed down from the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit." Ratchet said, pushing a button only to groan as even MORE error screens popped up.

"I think I can fix that." Raf offered.

"Reeally?! You know this is complex technology, don't you? I mean it isn't a child's toy." Ratchet said incredulously.

Raf quickly linked his laptop up to the computer tower hanging slung under the desk with all of the regular sized monitors. A quick bit of typing and he said "Now try."

All of the red error screens turned blue in front of Ratchet's optics before disappearing to show their normal displays and Ratchet turned back to Raf looking at him in a new light.

Scene Change: Decepticon Mine

The Autobots rapidly made their way through all opposition as they headed towards the loading cavern. Coming out and taking cover, they studied the area and Bulkhead let out a whistle as he said "Quite an operation."

Optimus pulled out his scanner and said "The energy signature is coming from...there." The others followed his pointed finger and saw the remains of the Zombiecon on a wraparound walkway two levels above them. Pyrrha frowned and said "Guys, is it just me or is that half a Vehicon Drone?"

"I'd say less than half, but yeah, looks that way partner." Cliffjumper said with his own frown.

"Ratchet did say that the energon signature appeared corrupted. Perhaps an experiment on a new variation for fuel purposes that went wrong." Arcee mused.

Before anything else could be said, more blaster fire came towards their position and the Autobots began returning fire as Optimus ordered "Pyrrha, get us a sample, we'll cover you!"

"On it!" Pyrrha shouted before she shot out from cover, quickly running towards the far wall. She latched onto the platform with her polarity and reeled herself in like a member of the Bat family with their beloved grappling hooks. Landing on the platform in a crouch next to the bisected Zombiecon's body, she pulled a compressed water bottle out of her jean pocket. Quickly uncapping the bottle, she blew hard into it to make it expand back into its original shape. A chunk of metal ripped off the Zombiecon with polarity gave her something to scoop the purple energon into the bottle but that same action made it stir.

Pyrrha startled as the Zomiecon lifted its head up with a savage cry, quickly drawing her Desert Eagle from its holster and putting four bullets in the thing's head. When that didn't work, Pyrrha resorted to drastic measures and crushed it into a crumpled ball with a polaric grip. The sparking but now _definitely_ dead Zombiecon went still and Pyrrha shuddered as she said under her breath "I _hate_ zombies!"

Such hatred for the undead was from when Nora had insisted on a zombie movie marathon one weekend back at Beacon. Shaking the memories and the quick burst of melancholy from her head, she quickly went back to work, filling the first bottle and pulling out a second to get a larger sample for Ratchet.

Scene Change: Aboard The Nemesis

A much larger chunk of Dark Energon was floating in an antigrav unit, Megatron studying it as he said "Blood of Unicron! How might I fathom the depths of your mystery, become worthy of wielding your astonishing power?"

Behind him, a communication monitor turned on showing Starscream as he said "Lord Megatron! Intruders have been detected in the mines!"

"Optimus?" Megatron questioned.

"Indeed." Starscream confirmed.

Turning to the screen, Megatron said "I need more time to prepare an appropriate reception for my old friend. Ready the ship for departure!"

"But the energon I've mined! The Autobots will seize it!" Starscream objected.

"Then blow the mines!" Megatron ordered, uncaring of the massive loss of Energon such an action would entail.

Scene Change: In The Mine Loading Chamber

Pyrhha was just standing up from the Dark Energon puddle, the pair of filled bottles held to her side by her loosened belt when Starscream's voice echoed in the cavern as he called out "Prime."

In the confusion of the battle, Starscream had appeared on the same ledge he had talked with Megatron on. In his right hand was a device that was clearly a bomb and he smirked as he said "I'd stick around but I'm squeamish."

He activated the bomb's timer and opened his hand to drop it but the bomb fell for only a foot before it stopped, floating in the air. "What?!" Starscream asked in confusion. Confusion which turned into horror as the bomb shot up and slammed itself onto his back and stayed there.

"NO!" Starscream shouted, desperately scrabbling at his back, unable to reach the explosive device. A moment later, he shot upwards against his will, quickly reaching the height of the Nemesis which had already been pulling away, unfortunately no longer within the blast radius. A few moments later the timer went off and Starscream could be heard screaming in terror before suddenly being cut off as a fire ball blossomed.

Down on the ground with the Autobots, they all looked upwards with varying signs of surprise as Bulkhead and Cliffjumper said together "Damn."

"Glad Pyrrha's on our side." Arcee said in agreement.

**"Agreed"** Bumblebee said with a fervent nod.

"Hey guys!" Pyrhha said as she landed in a crouch next to them with a grin.

"Way to go Partner." Cliffjumper said with a matching grin as he picked her up, placing her on his shoulder.

"You're kind of scary, you know that kid?" Arcee asked with a smirk.

"Ha, are you kidding? She just took out Starscream with his own bomb, I think the word you are looking for is Badass!" Bulkhead said with a wide grin.

"Indeed, that was rather quick thinking Pyrrha, well done." Optimus said with a nod. Turning serious, he continued "Autobots, after what just happened, the Decepticons may return in greater force, we should return back to base for now before we are overrun." Putting a hand to the side of his head, he pushed his com button and said "Ratchet, lock onto our position and send an immediate Ground Bridge."

Scene Change: Outpost Omega One

The team came out of the ground bridge and as soon as the portal shut down Miko called from the platform "How come Pyrrha could go with you guys but we couldn't?!"

"Pyrrha has extensive combat training and prior experience in the field that you lack." Optimus said in a tone that said the matter was closed.

Said red head used her magnetic grappling hook trick to quickly shoot over to Ratchet's station, shocking the three Kids as she pulled out the two bottles of purple stuff and said "Here Ratchet, I don't know what this stuff is, but it apparently turned one of the Con drones into some kind of Zombiecon."

"Did it now? _Interesting_." Ratchet mused as he accepted the two bottles and made for the large microscope at another part of his workstation.

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Pyrrha can _fly_?!" Miko asked jerking a hand towards the Huntress.

Pyrrha smiled at her and said "It's not actually flight, I used my Polarity Semblance to pull myself over."

"Semblance?" Raf asked with a cocked head.

Miko though had a much more energetic response to the information, her eyes widening in excitement as she asked "You mean you're a real life Magneto?!"

Pyrrha shrugged and said "I'm nowhere near powerful enough to pick up the Golden Gate Bridge, but in a word? Yes."

"Those Decepticons never stood a chance did they?" Jack asked weakly.

"Nope." Bulkhead said with a grin.

"I can't believe we've got a real live mutant here, and she goes to school with us! Hey, are there others that go there?!" Miko asked eagerly.

Pyrrha shook her head and said "Far as I know, I'm the only one who has abilities like that around here."

Miko snapped her fingers and said "Drat!"

Jack sighed and said "I don't know if I'm glad or disappointed to hear that." His phone then beeped and he pulled it out to glance at it, his eyes turning worried as he did so. A moment later he frowned and said "O-Optimus. I-I hate to bug, but - No bars."

"A security precaution. The silo walls isolate all radio waves." Optimus explained.

"Well, if I don't call my mom like now I'm pretty sure cops will be out looking for me." Jack said worriedly.

Optimus leaned forward and questioned "Have you broken a law?"

"Uh, curfew. It's after ten p.m." Jack said.

"I better get home too, or I'll be grounded for a year." Raf said nervously.

"Earth customs-I hadn't considered." Optimus said before he stood straight again and continued "But the issue of your safety remains." Turning, he said "Bulkhead! Accompany Miko home."

As the Wrecker walked over, Miko said "Awesome! My host parents will freak!"

"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form." Optimus tagged on.

"Curbside duty, got it." Bulkhead said, immediately followed by Miko's disappointed "Aww!"

Optimus paid her no mind as he turned his head to look at his Scout and said "Bumblebee! You'll watch over Raf." Turning next to Arcee, he said "Arcee. You'll accompany Jack."

"Understood Optimus." Arcee said with a nod.

"Don't forget me just because you've got a new dance partner now." Cliffjumper said with a grin.

"Oh hush you." Arcee said, lightly swatting at his shoulder and continued "You can't exactly talk given you've had Pyrrha for a year now."

"Hey, there's plenty of ol' Cliffjumper to go around for both my girls." Cliffjumper said with his grin turning a bit rougish, the area where a human's eyebrows waggling. Pyrrha giggled with a hand over her mouth at his words while Arcee merely rolled her eyes good naturally.

Minutes later, the three Kids and their Autobot guardians took off down the tunnel and Pyrrha stretched both arms upwards with a yawn and said "I think I'm going to head to bed as well, it's been a rather long day."

"Sleep well, Pyrrha." Optimus said as he watched her head out of the control room and towards one of the silo's more human sized rooms, the only bedroom among twelve that was still being used.

"Night kiddo." Cliffjumper called after her, getting a wave in response as the Huntress gave another yawn hidden by her other hand.

Scene Change: Bridge Of The Nemesis

Megatron growled as he said "I do not appreciate surprises Soundwave, and that goes double when said surprises cost us my Second in Command." Glowering at the screenshot of Pyrrha taken from one of the mine's surveillance units, he continued "Make finding out any and all information the humans have on this female your top priority. We cannot allow the Autobots to retain an ally such as her."

Soundwave nodded, not bothering to mention that Starscream had issued a similar order the day before, watching as Megatron stalked back to where the Dark Energon was stored, all of the Decepticons who saw him wisely getting out of his way long before he got close.

As he reached the storage room, he scowled and said "If we are to counter that odd human then we are in need of an edge ourselves." With that, he ripped a shard of Dark Energon off and jammed it into his spark chamber. Immediately the Blood of Unicron began spreading throughout his body and he cried out as power began to fill his very being.

Scene Change: Outpost Omega One.

"Hmm. The base elements of this goo are like nothing I've ever encountered." Ratchet said as he picked up a pair of tongs and removed the glass plate with a drop of the Dark Energon on it from his microscope. Turning with the plate a little less carefully than he should have, Ratchet continued "Unfortunately, complete results are slow coming without the use of proper diagnostic tools! Thank you very much, Bulkhead! "

As he turned and walked to a new station, a drop of the Dark Energon fell to the floor and landed on the remains of the tool Bulkhead had destroyed. The substance sank into the tool and it began shifting until it became a spider like device, the top a purple glowing circle like an eye. Said eye swiveled around before it quickly began scuttling forward...

END

Author's Notes: Phew, that one took a while to get through, but I finally managed it! Unfortunately, Starscream bringing that bomb secured his demise. With Pyrrha there, there was simply no way of justifying the Autobots racing away from an explosion instead of directly dealing with the explosive device...oh who am I kidding? That rat with wings got what he deserved and I'm not sorry in the least.

Anyways, considering this is a crossover with RWBY I believe that I will get the two Flesh to Aura stories next. _Hopefully_ I can get those out faster than this chapter. Until then, this is Tactition101, signing out.


	3. Chapter 3

3\. I Hate Zombies Part One

Story Start: Autobot Base

Pyrrha was reading her history textbook on her bed. Her attempt to catch up with her fellow Jasper High students on her worst subject was interrupted by Cliffjumper who tapped on the giant metal door installed next to her human sized one and called into the room "Yo Partner, are you just going to spend the whole day in there? It's Saturday, we should be out having some fun right now!"

"I'd like to Cliffjumper, but I really do need to catch up on this world's history." Pyrrha called back.

"Oh come on Pyrrha, you spend an hour after school each weekday doing that! Learn to live a little girl!" Cliffjumper said, and someone being unkind would suggest that he was actually whining a bit.

Despite herself, Pyrrha's lips twitched up into a grin before a few moments later she gave a theatrical sigh and said "Oh, all right, I suppose if I must."

"_Yesss!"_ Cliffjumper hissed and Pyrrha laughed as she got off her bed and headed to the human sized door, easily stepping on the hand that Cliffjumper had already placed in front of it, which he then moved to his shoulder for her to sit on.

The pair headed for the entrance of the base discussing what they could do for the day only to hear a loud crash and then Ratchet shout out "I needed that!"

The pair traded a look before Cliffjumper booked it for the common room. There they found Ratchet fighting with a small bit of machinery that had a singly purple eye and several claw like legs. The thing (which looked vaguely like the piece of machinery Bulkhead had broken the previous day) launched itself at Ratchet only to get flung into the far wall by Pyrrha's polarity. It slid down the wall to the ground but quickly sprung back to its feet and rushed towards her and Cliffjumper.

Cliffjumper's hand shifted to his blaster but before he could aim it, Pyrrha said "Don't waste your ammo Cliff."

"Oh sure, hog all the fun." Cliffjumper said with a mock pout even as Pyrrha grabbed the strange robot in another field of polarity, bringing it closer to her. The robot scrabbled around in the air, trying to get its claws into her while Pyrrha idly studied it for a moment before glancing at Ratchet and asked "You want this thing alive for study or are you good with just a dissection?"

"Oh by all means, scrap the menace." Ratchet said with a glare at said menace.

Pyrhha nodded and with a twitch of her fingers bent the clawed legs upwards to stab into the 'head'. Immediately after, the purple light died out and the corpse went still.

"Thank you Pyrrha." Ratchet said as Pyrrha floated the remains over to him before looking at the approaching Optimus and asked "Now, what could have caused _that_?!" Restarting a Vehicon drone's spark was one thing, but his diagnostic tool had neither a spark nor a t-cog to turn into that spider form.

"I have a grave suspicion, Ratchet. Dark Energon." Optimus said grimly as he studied the remains.

Scene Change: On The Nemesis

Soundwave looked up from where he was scanning through the humans' vast information network trying to find out what he could about Pyrrha. He was being stymied though by the fact that the girl had absolutely no presence on any of the social media the human liked to use. As such, he now had to work his way through the much better protected government databases. It wasn't exactly _difficult_ per-se, but it was taking longer to get through the various firewalls and other protections.

His work was momentarily interrupted when Megatron sent over the coms "Soundwave, I have a _test_ to perform with the Dark Energon, you are in charge until my return."

The Decepticons' Communications Chief briefly considered everything he had witnessed dealing with Dark Energon the previous day and extrapolated what Megatron was most likely leaving to do. The next moment, he gave the mental equivalent of a shrug and went back to his assigned task. _One_ of the myriad of Government agencies and task forces had to know about his target, he just had to _find_ that entity.

Scene Change: Autobot Base

"Dark Energon?" Ratchet asked with a frown before he nodded and said "That would account for the deceased Vehicon coming back to life that Pyrrha reported. Still, it's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent. What would it be doing on Earth?"

"It was transported here. By Megatron." Optimus stated.

"For what purpose?" Ratchet asked.

"Gee, I don't know, _whatever_ could the Dark Lord of Evil want with a substance that can bring the dead back to life? Can you say 'No more loss of manpower for my Army of Evil'?" Cliffjumper asked, walking over to join the pair.

Optimus nodded at that and said "Indeed Cliffjumper, but I do not believe that Megatron would limit his use of the Dark Energon to merely reviving his troops after each battle. I believe that he would instead use it to conquer this planet, by raising an army of the undead in one go."

"Well, Megatron would need to break quite a few toaster ovens. I mean, where on this world would he find that many Cybertronian dead?" Ratchet asked.

Before Optimus could answer that, the sound of running engines was heard and the rest of Team Prime came into the base with their excited charges all exclaiming about how much fun what they had just finished doing with their Autobot guardians had been. Pyrrha felt a pang in her heart when Bulkhead transformed only to pull a guitar case out from his chest.

"Sorry! Must have left that in the back!" Miko said sheepishly as she accepted said case from the green giant.

As this happened, Optimus talked to Ratchet briefly then walked over as he said "Autobots, prepare to-" He then stopped when he glanced down at the three children and reconsidered his plan.

"Roll out?" Arcee asked.

"Remain here. Ratchet, you'll come with me along with Cliffjumper and Pyrrha." Optimus said.

"Guess we know what we're doing for the day, eh Partner?" Cliffjumper asked Pyrrha who nodded as her partner moved to stand beside Optimus.

Optimus glanced at them for a moment before turning back to Arcee and continued "Arcee, we'll be outside communications range for some time so I'm putting you in charge."

"Dude, you're biggest. You should be the boss!" Miko said to Bulkhead.

"Err, he never picks me." Bulkhead said somewhat sheepishly.

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing; babysitting a bunch of teens who can be trusted to handle themselves while in the safety of the base is another." Arcee said before she gestured towards Ratchet and continued "Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war."

"My pistons may be rusting, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!" Ratchet barked out causing Pyrrha and Cliffjumper to snicker.

"For the moment, it is only reconnaissance." Optimus said to Arcee.

"And why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee asked.

Pyrrha decided to step in at that point and said "Arcee, the Cons just showed up for the first time in three years, anyone who ISN'T on edge until we stop whatever plan made that change happen isn't being logical. But that doesn't mean we should go out in full force. We have a better chance remaining under the radar with a smaller group."

Optimus nodded at Pyrrha in agreement before looking back down at Arcee and said "Pyrrha is correct Arcee, much has changed in the last twenty four hours, and we must all adapt." Turning to Ratchet, he said "Ratchet, bridge us out!"

As the quartet left through the portal, Jack looked up at Arcee and clasped his hands together as he asked "OK, chief so, what's on the activities list?"

Arcee glanced down at him, then flicked her eyes over Miko and Raf before she sighed and said "I'm going on patrol, make sure that those Cons running around the area two days ago were a fluke. Bee, you're with me. Bulkhead, you're in charge."

The pair transformed and were soon moving out of the entrance way. Jack blinked after them then looked up at Bulkhead and asked "Was it something I said?"

Bulkhead chuckled a bit sheepishly before he said "So uh, what's on the activities list?"

Miko perked up and said "How about band practice?"

"But we're not a band." Raf said.

"Come on Raf, why so antisocial? You play anything?" Miko asked.

"Uh, I have my computer." Raf said only to wince as the proximity alarm went off.

Bulkhead gained a panicked look and said "Proximity Sensor! Quick, HIDE!"

The kids quickly moved to stand behind Bulkhead's leg, Miko clutching her guitar case close to her chest.

When the elevator door opened, Fowler strode out with a scowl and called out "PRIME!"

"Agent Fowler. Uh, He's not here. Nobody's here. Except me, of course." Bulkhead said nervously.

"Wha-where did he go? Wait, don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini-mall! Now, I don't know what language you 'Bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons, and yet _**I**_ just had to come up with a reason why there was an explosion a few hundred feet in the air over a mountain in a Nebraska National Reserve. That is NOT what the word 'handle' means to me!" Fowler said, glaring at Bulkhead. The next instant, movement in his bottom peripheral made him glance down and Fowler's anger turned to confusion as he asked "Why do you have a guitar case attached to the back of your foot?"

Miko winced at the look Jack gave her before the three kids nervously stepped around Bulkhead's leg and Jack said "Uh, hey there! How are you doing?"

"Contact with civilians!" Fowler said in shock before his anger returned and he said "Team Prime has really gone off book this time! Wait, don't tell me, you're running a daycare center?"

"Uuuuhboy." Bulkhead said, looking down at the kids, not knowing what to do.

"We are interns." Jack said.

"Student interns!" Raf continued.

"Earning extra credits in Mechanics!" Jack said before Miko immediately added on "Robotics!"

Fowler gave them an unimpressed look. He then looked at Bulkhead and asked "Where's Pyrrha?" _She_ he could work with better, if for no other reason than she was trained to be part of a paramilitary force and so actually respected his authority as a fellow paramilitary (and former military) operative, unlike the lug nut in front of him who seemed to NOT have any respect for the Former Ranger.

"With Optimus." Bulkhead immediately answered.

"And he is, where?" Fowler continued.

"He didn't say, he, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, and Pyrrha took the Ground Bridge to go on what Optimus called recon." Bulkhead continued.

"Unh-huh. And Arcee and Bumblebee?" Fowler continued.

"Arcee said that she was going to make sure that the Cons appearing in Jasper was a fluke, and took Bee with her." Bulkhead answered.

"Leaving _you_ to watch over two teenagers and a preteen." Fowler said with crossed arms and a completely unimpressed look.

Bulkhead sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and said "That's right."

Fowler closed his eyes with a weary sigh before he opened them and began to purposefully stride down the stairs as he said "Ok, let's start with the basics, kids, what are your names? And I mean _both_ first and lastnames."

The three traded looks before Jack said "Jackson Darby."

"Miko Nakadai."

"Rafael Esquivel, call me Raf."

"Alright, now _how_ did you come to be here?" Fowler asked as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

Jack shrugged and said "Arcee parked in front of the place where I worked, I couldn't resist sitting on her to see what it felt like to ride a bike and the Cons tried to kill her. One wild ride down the freeway later and we wound up in the canal where Raf here was racing his car. Raf and I managed to get away but the next day they picked us up. Miko saw Arcee when she was trying to convince me to come with her."

Fowler closed his eyes and sighed again as he pinched the bridge of his nose. A moment later, he said "Alright, I'm bringing you three into Federal Custody, and your families will be moved. Trust me, it's for your protection."

Bulkhead finally got his confidence back, literally putting his foot down between Fowler and the kids as he said "_We're_ protecting them."

Fowler was officially NOT impressed with that kind of talk or his action and he glared up at Bulkhead as he asked "Is that so?" Moving to the phone that was beside the stairs, he picked up the receiver as he continued "Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon!"

"Wait, don't use that phone, it's-" Bulkhead said as he reached a finger over. There was a crunch and he finished lamely "out of order."

Fowler gave him an even bigger glare even as he dropped the now useless receiver to hang by its cord and said "This isn't over Big Foot!" With that, he strode (more like stomped) up the stairs and to the elevator.

As the elevator doors slid together, Bulkhead sighed and said softly to himself "Oh boy."

Scene Change: With Optimus' Group

The three Autobots were walking through a dreary cannon, Pyrrha still on Cliffjumper's shoulder but just as alert as her Partner. Looking around with a frown, Ratchet asked "Optimus, what do we hope to find _here_?"

"The site of the largest Cybertronian battlefield on this galaxy." Optimus said.

Cliffjumper and Ratchet's optics both widened as Ratchet asked incredulously "On _Earth_? You must be joking!"

Optimus gave a small shake of his head as he asked "Do you recall the period late in the war, when both sides began hiding their energon spoils off-world?"

"Of course, that's the reason energon deposits _exist_ on planets such as this one." Ratchet stated.

"It is also the reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one. And I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history." Optimus said grimly.

Pyrrha sighed to herself and said lowly "Great, more zombies. I _hate_ zombies!"

Cliffjumper chuckled and said "Cheer up Partner! At least with these zombies you can crush like soda cans without having to get too close."

"There is that." Pyrrha agreed with a wry smile.

"Hopefully amputation works just as well." Ratchet said, briefly transforming his right hand into a blade before turning it back into a hand. As a non-Warrior, the Medic didn't have the Energon Blasters that Cliffjumper and Optimus did.

Scene Change: Top Of Autobot Outpost

Fowler got in his helicopter and started it up. As he lifted off, he turned on a radio and said "Sir! Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I'm en-route from the Autobot base. I'll brief you in person."

Scene Change: The Nemesis

_"Sir! Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I'm en-route from the Autobot base. I'll brief you in person."_

If Soundwave had a face, he would have blinked and then grinned. This presented a MUCH better way of obtaining the information that he seeked. After all, why go through ALL of the various government agencies and task forces to find one person when he could just grab someone who was actually part of the group working with them?

Sending a signal to Laserbeak, his drone popped off of his chest and quickly zipped through the ship. The signal was coming from nearby after all. It was just a shame that Soundwave couldn't know if this 'Agent Fowler' had called at the beginning or middle of his journey from the Autobots' base.

Scene Change: With Agent Fowler

Fowler frowned when his computerized map flashed a warning showing that there was a large object in front of the helicopter moving in his direction. "Hey there Big Bird, I'm flying here!" He muttered then Laserbeak got close enough for him to see and he asked "What in Uncle Sam's beard!?"

Quickly dodging to the side to avoid the Mini-Con that was just a bit larger than his helicopter, Fowler asked to himself "First the freeways aren't safe, now air travel?!" As Laserbeak chased after the helicopter, the pair soon reached a plateau that they had to rise to go over. Fowler cut some of the speed in his rotors and dropped down the other side. As Laserbeak shot past, he rose up behind it and grinned as he asked "You want to dance, 'Con? _I'll_ lead!"

With that he began shooting the gun slung under his cockpit at Laserbeak but the bullets that actually hit it just ricocheted off without damage. When his gun ran out of ammo, Laserbeak did a quick loop and sliced off the tail section of the helicopter.

As Fowler's helicopter began spinning out of control towards the ground, the agent grunted and said "Never an Autobot around when you actually need one." He struggled to reach the S.O.S. button on his control panel only for Laserbeak to fly over the helicopter, deploying two tentacles, one to latch onto the helicopter and the other to break through the windscreen and grab Fowler. He tried to keep the tentacle from grabbing him but was unsuccessful and was soon pulled out of the helicopter. But just before he was pulled out, he managed to hit the S.O.S. button.

Now held up in the air by both of Laserbeak's tentacles, all he could do was watch as his ruined helicopter finished falling to the ground and exploded when it crashed, hoping that it had been enough and rescue would come.

Scene Change: Autobot Base

A second, much higher pitched alarm began ringing through the base and Raf immediately clapped his hands over his ears as he complained "My ears!"

Bulkhead walked over to Ratchet's station and said "It's an S.O.S., from Fowler!" He hopelessly looked over the controls not knowing what to do only for the alarm to stop and the signal to vanish.

"Did you trace it?" Raf asked.

"Location scan was incomplete." Bulkhead said before he walked away from the station and said with a shrug "Oh well."

"Oh well? _Seriously_?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Fowler's a jerk!" Bulkhead defended himself.

"Whoa! Whether you like the guy or not the Decepticons may have him." Jack said.

"And Agent Fowler knows your location." Raf said before he gulped and finished "Our location!"

"And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a 'Bot? The 'Cons will totally make him squeal!" Miko finished.

"But we lost the transmission. Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulkhead said.

Raf frowned before he put his book bag on the ground and grabbed his laptop as he said "Maybe I can narrow it down." Sitting down, he said "About five years ago the Government started microchipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets." He started typing only to notice the looks the other three were sending down at him and he asked "What? I saw it on TV." Resuming his typing, he continued "Anyway, if I can hack into the Fed's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates."

"You know how to hack? But you're like, two years old!" Miko asked incredulously.

"Twelve. And a quarter." Raf said sharply at first before adding on with a smile as he adjusted his glasses before going back to his computer.

Scene Change: On Board The Nemesis

Agent Fowler was flown into the brig where Laserbeak allowed a pair of Vehicon Drones to wrap him in chains, leaving him to hang in the air while the Mini-Con shot over to the waiting Soundwave and landed on his chest. Soundwave gave a hand gesture to the Vehicons who moved to the walls of the brig. Soundwave then stepped closer to Fowler, putting his visor within three feet of his head and a sound bite of Fowler stating his name was played followed by a question mark appearing on the visor.

"Yeah, that's me." Fowler said warily while making a note that their coms weren't _nearly_ as secure as he and his higher ups had thought.

Soundwave then played the entire message that sound bite had come from.

_"Sir! Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I'm en-route from the Autobot base. I'll brief you in person."_

The Communications Chief replayed "Autobot base" and once the soundwave line on his visor stopped rising and falling brought back the Question Mark.

"I'm afraid that's need to know son, and you're not on the list." Agent Fowler said with a frown, doing his best to hide how nervous he really was.

The voice line came back and an audio file of Samuel Jackson of all people said _"Now listen here punk, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way."_ Reaching forward, Soundwave gripped Fowler's right knee with the tip of two fingers and applied what to him was just a _small_ amount of pressure but which had Fowler grunting in pain as it felt like the joint was about a second from shattering before letting go and Captain Jack Sparrow's voice asked _"Savvy?"_

Scene Change: Autobot Base

"Latitude 39.5, Longitude 116.9." Raf said.

Bulkhead put in the coordinates and opened the Ground Bridge as he said "Ok, wait here."

"Aah, don't break up the band!" Miko complained.

At the entrance of the bridge, Bulkhead turned back and pointed at Jack as he said "Uh, Jack, you're in charge!" Before turning back and running through the portal.

As he vanished, Jack said "I guess we have the run of the place." He then noticed Miko was missing and he and Raf looked around as he asked "Miko?"

Scene Change: Canyon The Nemesis Is Docked In

Running out of the portal with a call of "Fowler?" Bulkhead saw his surroundings and his optics widened as he said "Uh Oh" before he ran behind a large rock and looked at the Nemesis floating with the tips of its lower fins just a couple of feet above the ground with Vehicon Drones patrolling on the ground and said "The whole Decepticon shebang."

He watched as a Vehicon passed close by on patrol but before he could move closer to the ship he heard "Alright! What's the plan?!"

Looking to the side showed Miko giving him a thumb's up. Optics widening, he put a finger to his mouth and said "Miko!"

It was too late though, a Vehicon walked over to the much smaller rock Miko had been hiding behind and leveled its charged blaster at her. Miko's face fell and she said "Oh, unwise."

"Miko get down!" Bulkhead yelled and she quickly jumped over the rock and away as the Vehicon fired, hitting the middle of the rock and blowing a hole into it. Before it could turn to fire on her again, it was body tackled by Bulkhead who managed to pin it to the ground. He got a few punches in only for the Vehicon to get his left hand back into its clawed hand and swiped at Bulkhead's chest making him back off. The Vehicon was immediately back on its feet and traded a few more punches before it raked its claws against the right side of Bulkhead's head. There wasn't any damage when it happened though and Bulkhead once more pinned the Con to the ground, this time with his hands gripping the drone's.

As the Con was on its back a second time, Miko slowly walked over holding a for her very heavy rock and as she got closer shouted "Hold him still!" She hit the drone's head with the rock with very impressive force...and didn't even get a dent for her troubles. Bulkhead quickly scooped her up with his right hand and very _gently_ tossed her a few feet away to his left, causing Miko to land on her rump. This of course allowed the Con to get back to his feet and as Miko stood up rubbing her back side the pair of titans entered into a battle of strength as their arms were interlocked at the shoulders.

Groaning, Bulkhead said "Miko! Look away!"

"But-" Miko said before Bulkhead interrupted "Turn your head _away_!" The next instant, Bulkhead shoved his left hand into the drone's chest, pulling a mass of rapidly sparking metal cables and other thin metal parts out. The sparks lit up Miko's eyes as she said "Whoa!"

Scene Change: With Arcee and Bumblebee

The pair were quickly moving down the road towards Jasper when their coms came on and Bulkhead said _"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?"_

"Loud and clear, Bulkhead." Arcee sent.

_"I have a situation." _Bulkhead said.

"_Bulkhead_, they're children. _Humans!_ Just do, _whatever_." Arcee said before a moment later the two drivers skidded to a turning stop as Arcee asked "You're _where_?! _She's_ where?!"

Scene Change: Autobot Base

"What should we do?" Raf asked Jack worriedly "Bulkhead may have not even realized she'd followed him."

"Miko hasn't seen the 'Cons in action like we have. She has no idea." Jack said, just as if not more worried.

Raf quickly typed at the human sized computer linked to the Ground Bridge and said "Those are the coordinates. Their destination is still locked in."

Jack glanced away for a moment, gave a sigh, then looked back at Raf and said "Um, you're in charge!"

As Jack began climbing down the ladder to reach the ground level, Raf asked "In charge of _who_?!" A moment or rolling his eyes later, he hit the enter button on the keyboard and bent down to grab his book bag.

As the lever for the Ground Bridge pulled itself down, Raf quickly scrambled down the ladder himself and ran for the stairs to join Jack at the tunnel. Jack paused at the second rib of the tunnel to look down at him before the pair continued as the green portal formed all around them.

As they left, the base's coms came on and Arcee's voice said _"Arcee to base, come in. Jack? Listen up, we need you to bridge us back. Hello?"_

Scene Change: With Arcee and Bumblebee

Arcee sighed and said "Bumblebee? Metal to the Pedal!" The pair quickly took off, tires squealing and leaving skid marks as they rushed back to base.

Scene Change: The Nemesis Brig

Under his clothes, Agent Fowler's body was covered in bruises from where Soundwave had been squeezing parts of it between his fingers. Cocking his head, Soundwave played another soundbite, this time in Liam Neeson's voice that said _"Let's change gears for a bit. Who's the girl?"_

Agent Fowler wearily opened up his eyes to see a picture of Pyrrha crouched next to the remains of the Zombiecon in the mine, arm outstretched to something above her with a determined look in her eyes.

"Unh, cute kid, though I can't say I've had the pleasure of meeting her before." Fowler said, wincing as speaking did unpleasant things to his chest region right now.

Soundwave played a VERY theatrical sigh over his voice box before he turned to one of the Vehicon Drones and an old western cowboy's voice said_ "Bring me that there cattle prod."_

Scene Change: Outside The Nemesis

Bulkhead had Miko in his hand as he looked at the Nemesis behind cover and asked "What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?"

"Dude, the Cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler _right now_. Let's just storm the joint!" Miko suggested.

As she finished speaking, the Ground Bridge portal appeared and Bulkhead let out a relieved "Ah, they're here!"

Unfortunately for Bulkhead, the two figures that came out were most assuredly NOT Arcee and Bumblebee.

Seeing Raf and Jack, Miko crossed her arms as she asked "Why don't those guys hang with their OWN 'Bots? This is OUR one-on-one time."

As Jack and Raf walked away from where the portal had left them, Raf asked Jack "Whoa, are your bones vibrating?"

Jack lifted one hand up in a type of so-so gesture even as he rubbed the back of his head with the other. The pair abruptly stopped though as they took in the giant ship in front of them. The giant ship that a trio of guards stood on top of and pointed their blasters at the pair as one of them shouted "You there!"

_**"SCRAP!"**_ Bulkhead and Miko said together and with feeling.

Scene Change: The Brig

The Vehicon Drone handed Soundwave the prod which began sparking purple in his grip. Soundwave cocked his head and a Detroit Gangster's voice said _"Last chance punk, tell us what we want to know or it's going to get _ugly_."_

Fowler gave a weak chuckle and said "Sure thing buddy, right after you eat my star-spangled shorts!"

He immediately let out a loud shout of pain as Soundwave touched the prod to him, an Emoji of a yellow 'smiley face' appearing on his visor giving a theatrical sigh and shaking its head as hands appeared on each side held palm up in the universal 'what can you do' gesture.

Scene Change: Wit Optimus' Group

The trio of Bots and one Huntress came to a stop at the end of the canyon where several Cybertronian corpses were laying on the ground.

"For the first time in my life, Optimus I had hoped that you were wrong." Ratchet said solemnly.

The sound of a jet approaching had everyone look over their right shoulders and they watched as Megatron shot to the end of the canyon, landing on the top of a rock spire and turning back into bot mode as he asked "Optimus! Been well? I see you brought your trusty watchdog. I was certain that he would be convalescing in a scrap yard by now. And what's this? You brought a human _pet_ along with you. That's a rather irresponsible thing for an owner to do."

Megatron's voice may have been condescending, but on the inside he was absolutely furious at the sight of Pyrrha standing on Cliffjumper's shoulder. With her here, his _test_ could likely be interfered with in a way he didn't like. Said redhead actually gave Megatron the finger causing Cliffjumper to snicker at the action that was so unlike her.

Ratchet took a few steps forward as he punched his right fist into his left palm a couple of times while Optimus said "I know why you are here, Megatron."

"Hardly a surprise, Optimus. After all, you and I have been at this a long time. And your time has come to an end!" Megatron declared as he pulled out a shard of Dark Energon and then threw it down into the Canyon floor. The Dark Energon sunk into the ground then a spider web of cracks with purple light glowing out of it formed. Purple Light that was mirrored around Megatron's chest as he called out "Rise my army!"

As the first Zombiecon climbed out of the ground, Ratchet whispered "By the Allspark!"

As even more joined it, Pyrrha said "Aw man, I _HATE_ Zombies!"

"BEHOLD, THE POWER OF _DARK ENERGON_!" Megatron shouted as the army started marching towards the quartet...

END

Author's Notes: I realized while working on this that all of the good stuff that was lead up to in this episode actually comes NEXT episode and so I decided to do that chapter AND the next one just to get the Pilot done (Optimus gives a good speech at the end that allows me to step away from this story for a while with a clear conscious.)


	4. Chapter 4

4\. If You're A Decepticon, Then You're Going To Have A Bad Day

Story Start: With Optimus' Group

_The Dark Energon sunk into the ground then a spider web of cracks with purple light glowing out of it formed. Purple Light that was mirrored around Megatron's chest as he called out "Rise my army!"_

_As the first Zombiecon climbed out of the ground, Ratchet whispered "By the Allspark!"_

_As even more joined it, Pyrrha said "Aw man, I HATE Zombies!"_

_"BEHOLD, THE POWER OF DARK ENERGON!" Megatron shouted as the army started marching towards the quartet..._

Ratchet scowled as he said "Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen brethren, and his own."

"Not even the dead are free from his warmongering." Optimus said with a frown.

Megatron laughed from his perch as he said "At last, symbiosis. I can feel it. I possess complete control over my army." Giving a wave of his arm, he commanded "DESTROY THEM!"

"Right, I've officially had enough of this!" Pyrrha said before she leapt from Cliffjumper to Ratchet to Optimus, then using her polarity grapple, to the nearest Zombiecon. As it reached up for her, she placed her hands on its head and focused. The next moment, there was a crunching sound from inside the body as both the Cybertronic brain and spark were crushed causing the Zombie to collapse to the ground. As it fell, Pyrrha leapt to the next Zombiecon to repeat the process.

This one had a giant sword in its hands that it tried to hit her with while she was in the air only for Pyrrha to surround it in her Polarity and jerk it to the side making it miss her. Landing on the Zombiecon's left shoulder, she used her Polarity to yank the sword out of its hands, flip it around, stab the Zombiecon in the spark chamber before ripping it back out. Orienting it point up then spinning it like a giant buzz saw, she spun it around her in a circle shredding through the nearest ten Zombiecons even as the one she was on collapsed to the ground. Bringing the sword to a stop point down beside her, she released her grip on it and it sunk into the ground a bit staying put as she focused her attention on all of the shredded metal around her, raising it up then shoving her arms forward hurling the shards out ahead of her like a giant shot gun blast that cleared a massive lane through the mass of undead. (Complete with multiple sonic booms as the pieces of metal all broke the sound barrier) She slouched a bit with a few pants from the exertion before she straightened and lifted the sword back out of the ground ready to chop anything that got close to her into pieces.

The Autobots weren't idle during this either, Optimus and Ratchet slicing apart the Zombiecons that had gone around Pyrrha's position while Cliffjumper stayed back providing support fire with his energon blasters.

Megatron watched all of this with a snarl. He had expected Optimus to be able to take some of his army down of course, (and the Medic and other Autobot weren't doing too shabby either a small part of him admitted to itself) but that _human_ was an even bigger threat to his plans. She simply HAD to go, before she ruined **EVERYTHING**. The end of his cannon lit up with purple light as he lined up his shot...

Scene Change: Outside The Nemesis

The three Decepticons on top of the Nemesis began immediately firing their blasters at Raf and Jack. Thankfully Bulkhead was quick to drive up to them in vehicle mode and his passenger door came open as he shouted "Get in now!"

As he quickly drove away from the fire, Raf and Jack put on their seatbelts as Raf said "Thanks, Bulkhead."

"Yeah, thanks." Jack said in agreement.

"Wh-what are you doing here!?" Bulkhead asked.

"We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?" Jack asked.

Said Tokyo native popped up between the two boys from the back as she asked "What's she look like?"

Bulkhead quickly drove behind a large rock and opened his door as he said "Everyone out! And this time, _please_, wait here?" A moment later, he shot out from behind the rock, dodging blaster fire as he drove to the cliff face at the stern of the ship, rapidly climbing up until he was high enough to grab the fin of the ship. Once on the Nemesis, he rapidly took out the three Vehicons that had been firing then glanced down to where he had left the kids. Only...

"Where's Miko?!" Bulkhead yelled down, not seeing her with the two boys. A moment later, there was a banging sound from inside of him and he opened his torso allowing Miko to pop out with a massive gasp and he asked "Miko?!"

"I heaved on your floor mats, sorry." Miko gasped out before she put her hand over mouth and made a heaving sound as she tried NOT to throw up again. As Bulkhead picked her up and put her down on the hull of the ship, she said "Remind me _never_ to do that again."

Before Bulkhead could say anything to that, a Vehicon tackled him and he was pushed back a few steps. He quickly reached over his shoulder and threw the drone off of his back and into the ground, slamming his right mace into it a few times before he looked back at where Miko was when he heard a hatch open immediately behind her.

Miko looked back and upon seeing the two drones rising up to the top of the ship quickly ran. One of the drones reached down for her only to get a blaster bolt to the chest curtesy of Bulkhead, the resulting explosion knocking Miko off of her feet. Bulkhead ran forward but had to stop as the surviving drone was joined by three others. Quickly looking around, Bulkhead ran over to one of the ship's sensor dishes, ripping it off and throwing it like a Frisbee into the group of drones.

Walking over to Miko, he held his hand low for her to sit on and picked her up. The pair looked at each other for a second before Bulkhead hunched down as blaster fire sounded. Seeing even more drones running towards them from either side, Bulkhead looked at the open hatch and ran to it, quickly jumping through.

Back on the ground, Raf looked up at Jack and asked "Think they forgot about us?"

Jack shrugged but the sound of heavy footsteps right behind them made them turn around to see two more drones, one of which reached down to pick them up...

Bulkhead was meanwhile running down the corridor he had landed in. However, when he was nearing an intersection, a pair of Vehicons walked across the path and noticed them coming. Lowering his left hand, Bulkhead sent Miko sliding down the hallway, between, then past the drones. Miko had just enough time to stand up and rub at her sore backside before Bulkhead was scooping her back up as he continued running.

The two drones that had caught Raf and Jack were making their unhurried way down another corridor. As they walked, the one in the lead told the one holding them "Bring them to the brig. Communications Chief Soundwave is keeping the other human there."

Raf and Jack traded a look with each other at that. An instant later, the sound of revving engines was heard and Bumblebee crashed into their feet in a skidding turn stop, Arcee leaping over him in order to catch Jack and Raf as the Vehicon drone released them on the way down.

As Bumblebee transformed and walked over, Arcee said "We appreciate clearing the front door for us. But storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list."

"Tell me about it." Jack said, raising his hands up on either side of himself.

The group continued running down the hallway until they reached an intersection. Slowing to a stop, Arcee formed her right blaster and whirled around the corner, pointing it at Bulkhead who had his own out. Immediately after, she pointed into the ceiling and said "Friendly!" which was followed immediately by Bulkhead's "Hello!"

As the pair put away their weapons Arcee said "Brought the humans, huh?"

"You try getting them to stay behind." Bulkhead complained.

"We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here." Arcee stated.

"Uh." Jack said getting everyone's attention before he and Raf said _"He's in the brig."_ (As if a prisoner would be _anywhere else_ in the ship...)

Scene Change: Nemesis Brig

Soundwave studied the human hanging from the chains. Not having anywhere near the durability of Cybertronians, he had passed out after only a few shocks with the prod. But he could tell that the human had now regained consciousness and stepped forward as the voice of Daffy Duck said _"Now then, where were we? Ah yes, you were going to give me what I wanted."_ The energon prod turning on again gave a sizzling hum that added a tone of menace to his words.

Groaning, Fowler said "Please, no more. They're in secret government base."

_"Obviously." _Soundwave replied in the droll voice of Alfred Pennyworth before Batman's voice continued _"You're going to have to give me more than that punk."_

A moment later, the sound of blaster fire sounded. If Soundwave had a face, he would be scowling at the moment. He of course knew about the intruders, but they were making their way through the ship much faster than he appreciated given his interrogation had been put on hold due to the frailty of the human body. Seeing that Fowler had gone silent again, Soundwave poked him _gently_ with his finger causing him to swing slightly even as he said in Flash's voice _"Don't leave me hanging here buddy."_

"In the old steel mill. Or was it under that carnival's fun-house?" Fowler asked.

An emoji of red face with devil horns that was scowling appeared on Soundwave's visor and he briefly touched the energon prod to Fowler causing him to grunt in pain. Turning to the two Vehicon drones in the room with them, he gave a sharp gesture to the doorway and they quickly ran out to try and help the other members of the crew if not stop the intruders then at least slow them down until he could break the defiance that Fowler had regained from hearing the blaster fire.

Scene Change: With Optimus' Group

Megatron fired his cannon only to snarl as Pyrhha's purloined sword blocked the shot. Glaring up at him, Pyrrha launched it in his direction like a missile and Megatron was forced to quickly dodge out of the way. As he recovered, he lost sight of Pyrrha who had quickly dove into the mass of Zombiecons, sticking low to the ground and touching their legs to use as a focus to crush their innards while staying out of Megatron's sight. The Silver Gladiator let out another snarl of frustrated anger now that he could no longer see her.

Twenty minutes later, over half of the undead army was taken out but the living fighters were starting to get tired. After slicing another Zombiecon to pieces, Ratchet said "Optimus, this prolonged exposure to Dark Energon is sapping our strength."

"Tell me about it, this a REALLY long rodeo." Cliffjumper said even as he hacked into a Zombiecon with the axe he had taken from another one near the start of the fight, his blasters not nearly as effective as edged weapons had proven to be.

"We cannot falter now." Optimus told them. He then took a quick concerned look around and asked "Where is Pyrrha?"

The next instant, a short (compared to the 'Bots) and squat tornado of rusted shrapnel suddenly swirled into existence a thousand feet away, rapidly expanding as the sharp bits of metal tore into the surrounding Zombiecons and added their devastated corpses to itself in order to affect even more Zombiecons as it grew to encompass all but a few of the undead on the edges of the battlefield.

"I think I know." Cliffjumper said in awe as the edge of the whirlwind of metal passed by them, the debris flowing around them without touching any of them.

When it ended though, all of the metal dropped to the ground revealing Pyrrha on a knee and heavily panting before she toppled to the side, seeming to be completely spent. Megatron let out a roar of triumph as he fired his cannon at her only to be denied again, this time by Optimus who had shot his shoulder from long range causing his arm to jerk to the side throwing his aim off. (And incidentally shooting one of the Zombiecons near the cliff)

Megatron snarled in anger but by the time he could line back up on Pyrrha Cliffjumper had ran over and scooped her limp form up in his left hand even as he started firing his right blaster at Megatron, axe discarded in order to do so while Optimus and Ratchet took care of the last few Zombiecons as they approached.

Snarling as he saw his army completely demolished and now taking fire himself (Though nowhere near as accurate as Optimus') Megatron shouted "You may have won here Optimus, but this was just a Prelude! The Main Event is yet to come!"

As Megatron transformed into his jet mode and flew away, Ratchet asked "If this wasn't Megatron's endgame, what is?"

Optimus could only stare around at the desolation with narrowed optics for a moment before he said "We must return to base."

Ratchet nodded and said "Indeed, especially since Pyrrha seems to be in danger of imminent Aura Depletion. I would rather not find out the effects Dark Energon would have on her unprotected body." All three Autobots looked at the Huntress in worry, her Aura beginning to shimmer visibly, her last act having drained it to rather dangerous levels.

Scene Change: The Nemesis

Unlike 'conventional' reasoning by human standards, the bridge of the Nemesis was NOT at the bow of the ship but rather buried rather deeply inside the Nemesis so that way it was protected from any damage inflicted upon the ship, a giant view screen allowing the pilots to see what the cameras placed on the hull showed them.

Of course, in order for the Vehicons stationed there to see both what the screen showed and the various stations placed around the walls of the bridge, they had to actually be still functional. Sadly for them, this was no longer the case, the Autobots having just entered the room and quickly gunned all of them down.

Arcee called out "Clear!" and the kids quickly ran into the room. Looking down at them, she said "Wait in here."

**"Is it really a good idea to leave them here?"** Bumblebee asked.

"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets. They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay PUT." Arcee said, saying the last part as she walked past the kids out of the room, the other two 'Bots following her out.

As the door closed after them, Miko said "That, was intense!"

"_Was_?" Raf asked.

Jack pointed at Miko and said "It's YOUR fault that we're stuck in this intensity, what were you _thinking_ Miko?!"

"Did I _ask _you to follow me?" Miko asked with hands on hips.

"You wanted us to be a band. Doesn't that usually mean playing together?" Jack asked.

"Well, maybe I decided to go solo." Miko retorted.

"Well, maybe** I** have some regard for your safety!" Jack countered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is your name 'Optimus'? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much!" Miko snapped back.

Raf, who the pair had been arguing over this entire time threw up his hands and shouted "Waagh! Stop it! Both of you!" He ran away from the pair, moving to sit on the ledge of the top tier of the bridge, arms moving around his legs, head joining them.

Jack and Miko quickly ran over and began trying to comfort him. A few moments later, Jack glanced around the bridge and saw one of the stations was unlocked and displaying some kind of schematic mixed with what MIGHT have been an equation. Nudging Raf, he asked "Hey Raf, what do you make of that?"

Seeing what Jack was talking about, Raf hopped down the steps to stand in front of the station and studied it for a moment before he said "It's important. _Really_ important."

Scene Change: The Brig

Soundwave paused from where he was about to actually start breaking Fowler's bones, starting with the right shin. The reason why he paused was because of the door to the brig being knocked on. Turning, he used one of his tentacles to push the door control. The door opened to reveal a Vehicon standing there. Soundwave's tentacle immediately shot around the drone and Bulkhead let out a surprised "WHOA!" as he dodged it, letting the dead drone fall to the floor. Bumblebee rolled into the room coming out with blasters pointed at Soundwave, Bulkhead also pointed one at the one without a face. They didn't actually fire though due to the other tentacle whose claw was hanging threatingly around Fowler's head, just waiting for the command to squish his head like a melon.

A blaster tapping his head had Soundwave look up to see Arcee on the ceiling, and he briefly wondered how she had got up there so fast without the cameras spotting her even as she said "I wouldn't."

Deciding to get in their heads a bit, Soundwave played an audio of Starscream chuckling as the face of the deceased Commander appeared on his visor and said _"Oh, but I might."_

"Okay, that's just creepy." Bulkhead muttered.

Scene Change: The Bridge

"We've got to get this to Optimus." Raf said grimly.

"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko asked.

"I know math when I see it. And that is one _serious_ equation." Raf said.

"Can you download it?" Jack asked.

Raf took off his book bag and placed it on the ground, opening it as he said "I have a flash drive." Coming up with the flash drive, Raf stepped forward with a frown and said "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is WAY alien."

Unfortunately, a Vehicon chose that time to come walking into the bridge. Miko ran for cover, Jack pulling Raf with him as he followed but Raf stopped when he realized his book bag was still on the deck and ran back for it. The Vehicon spotted the body of one of its fellows on the ground then saw Raf as he put on his book bag. Immediately after, it formed a blaster and pointed it at Raf.

Scene Change: The Brig

The Three Autobots stared down Soundwave who in turn was running quick calculations in his head as he kept his 'gaze' on Arcee while at the same time monitoring the camera feed on the other two.

Their stalemate was broken though when Agent Fowler said "The emu says, 'Wuaagh'!"

Despite himself, Soundwave turned his head towards Fowler in confusion. The next instant, Bumblebee took a gamble and fired his blaster at the cable tentacle, hitting it and causing it to jerk back and away from Fowler's head. Arcee immediately fired downwards causing Soundwave having to dodge away and the other two opened up on him.

Quickly deciding that the situation was not in his favor, Soundwave opened a ground bridge under himself and dropped down, the portal closing immediately after. Still, this hadn't been a COMPLETE loss seeing as how he had discovered the mini tracker in the human. It hadn't been all that hard to discover really, he just had to figure out how the Autobots had discovered the ship's location when the ship was cloaked from detection. It made Soundwave wish he had ground bridged Laserbeak back to him rather than fly the agent to the ship but there was nothing to do for it now.

Instead, Soundwave quickly made his way to the station that he had dropped in front of when he escaped, fingers flying over the keyboard as he began running a scan for radio signals inside the ship. He'd find the frequency for the chip and watch where it went. He just hoped it didn't give up the ghost before the Autobots returned to their base. After all, human electronics meshed with energon surges just as poorly as humans themselves did. It was why he had stopped using the prod and decided to go with breaking bones once he realized the chip was there.

Scene Change: The Bridge

Raf ran away from the Vehicon who began firing his blaster. An instant later, Jack tackled him to the side to hide behind a fallen Vehicon before calling "Miko! Take a picture!"

"Great Idea!" Miko called back, running out of cover. Stopping in front of the Vehicon that was walking forward in order to get an aiming angle on the two boys, she called out "HEY YOU!"

The Vehicon looked down at her just as her phone took the picture and Jack yelled "Not of that, of THAT!" He pointed first at the drone then at the screen holding the equation.

"Ooh." Miko said, taking a second photo.

A few moments later, the three kids were running out of the bridge as Jack shouted "Go, go, go!"

The Vehicon walked out after them and aimed at the running kids only to look further down the hall at the sound of a horn going off. A moment later, Bulkhead transformed and ran over the kids' heads and slammed into it, riding its body down the hallway before grabbing its shoulders and flipped throwing it even further before transforming and driving back.

While this was happening, Arcee and Bee skidded to a halt by the kids and as Jack hopped on her Arcee said "I told you to stay put!"

The next instant, they were peeling out and in Bumblebee, Fowler leaned forward from the back seat and said "I like pie. Can we stop for pie?"

"You found Fowler! Rock on!" Miko said making rock symbols with her hands.

Soon enough, the Autobots were out of the ship and driving away at top speed.

Scene Change: Autobot Outpost

Pyrrha was resting on one of the two hospital gurneys that were left in the base for some reason and Optimus was welding a brace on Ratchet's right arm when Bee, Bulkhead, and Arcee pulled in with the humans.

Frowning down at them, Ratchet asked "And _where_ were you three?"

"Rescuing Fowler after the Decepticons took him." Arcee said, gesturing at the Agent who was in Bee's hands after he transformed.

"With the kids?" Cliffjumper asked with the area over his right optic raised in an imitation of a human raising their eyebrow.

"They uh, decided to tag along." Bulkhead said rubbing the back of his helm.

Optimus frowned at that while Ratchet quickly retrieved the second gurney and said "Put Agent Fowler here if you would."

Bee lowered Fowler onto the gurney and the kids straightened him up so that way he was lying on it properly. As they did so, Jack asked in concern "What's wrong with Pyrrha?"

"Extreme Aura Depletion and Exhaustion. In short, she pushed herself too far." Ratchet stated briskly.

"Pushed herself too far doing what?" Raf asked.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors." Ratchet explained.

"Zombies?" Miko asked before she grew angry and asked "You fought zombies and I missed it?"

"Bulkhead." Optimus said, cutting off any response to Miko's question. When Bulkhead looked at his leader the Prime continued "You exercised extremely poor judgment in allowing the human children to accompany you."

Bulkhead looked down and said "It won't happen again, Optimus, I promise."

"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault." Miko said.

"Miko Please!" Bulkhead pleaded.

Miko ignored his plea though as she took out her phone and said "And check it out. Recon!"

Optimus leaned down and looked at the picture before he said "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."

"Whoa, Megatron's back? That's really bad news right?" Jack asked.

Ratchet leaned down and looked at the phone, a look of confusion appearing as he said "III don't understand."

Miko turned the phone around and said "Oops! That's the 'Con who tried to blow Raf away." She then started punching and said "At least that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill."

"Miko, Raf was almost killed. This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull?" Jack asked angrily.

"Um, we were ALL almost killed Jack. You, me, Raf, even them!" Miko said, pointing up at the Autobots.

Jack huffed and said "Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots then I don't wanna be a part of it. Not anymore."

"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent." Optimus said with a shake of his head. "However it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk but the safety of all human kind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."

Right after Optimus finished speaking, Ratchet turned on the ground bridge and said "No point in long god-byes. Here's the door."

Jack stared for a moment before he turned around to look at Raf and said "Come on Raf."

Raf looked down then over at Bee who looked sad. A moment later, Raf looked back at Jack and said "I'll be OK, Jack. See you at school."

"Sure thing." Jack said, moving for the stairs. As he reached the bottom and walked towards the ground bridge tunnel, Arcee stepped in his way, arms crossed and looking down at him with a slight frown. After a moment of staring at each other, Jack raised a hand and said "I know, you don't exist."

As Jack walked past her, Arcee said softly "Don't make me hunt you down."

Everyone conscious watched Jack walk through the portal in silence. When the portal closed, Ratchet asked Miko "Now then, what was this 'Recon' you wanted to show me?"

Scene Change: The Nemesis, In High Earth Orbit

"So," Megatron growled as he paced in front of Soundwave "Not only did you fail to find out anything about that infuriating human or where the Autobots base is from this 'Agent Fowler' you captured, but the Autobots also disabled my ship and killed a not so insignificant portion of its crew during his rescue."

_"Yes."_ A flat tone came from Soundwave before he put up a map with a red line on it showing the route the mini chip took before he lost the signal and continued in a mish mash of voices "However, _target location narrowed down_ from the entirety of the world **to the Western End of the Continental US and Canada.**"

"Not exactly the best of tradeoffs. My plan will be delayed for quite some time until the ship is repaired." Megatron growled out.

Soundwave cocked his head and said in Obi-Wan's voice _"True, from a certain point of view."_

"And what does THAT mean?" Megatron asked, looking at Soundwave sharply.

A satellite image appeared on Soundwave's visor and after a moment of study Megatron let out a hum and nodded as he said "I see." Chuckling, Megatron continued "I can always count on you to see my desires through Soundwave. Very well, we shall do as you have suggested."

Scene Change: Autobot Base

Ratchet studied the screen at his station for a moment before he said "It can't be." Louder, he called out "Optimus!" Turning when his leader arrived, he said "These are engineering specs for a space-time vortex generator."

Optimus was grim as he said "Megatron is building a Space Bridge. If he hasn't already."

Bulkhead, back from dropping Miko off back home after she tried to convince Jack to come back walked over with Bumblebee and said "The sooner he leaves, the better."

"Bulkhead, a Space Bridge runs in two directions. Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth. But to bring through his conquering army."

"The main event Megatron referred to." Ratchet said then continued "But the only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors..."

"Precisely," Optimus said, looking up to the missile silo's roof, through it to the stars, and several uncountable light years away to a now dead planet and finished "Cybertron."

END

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay, combination of yard work, regular work, and Deviant Art binging. But now there is just one last chapter to go before we switch stories.


	5. Chapter 5

5\. Battle At The Bridge

Story Start: Autobot Base, Early Morning

"We cannot allow Megatron to send Dark Energon through his space bridge. If we fail, the dead of Cybertron will rise. Swarm through its vortex and invade Earth. Bending humankind to Megatron's rule." Optimus said with a frown.

"So, no pressure. Just gotta find the 'Con's Space Bridge and park ourselves there until we can get a shot at the Dark Stuff when Megatron tries to chuck it on through." Cliffjumper said.

Pyrrha let out a tired groan from where she was lying on the gurney and said "That's provided you can FIND the bridge first. Better hope it's in range of our own bridge, since you know, the 'Cons have a SPACE SHIP they can take to it. If that thing's hanging behind the moon or Brothers forbid orbiting Mars, we're screwed."

"Indeed we are Pyrhha, so let's keep our fingers crossed that it ISN'T out of our reach." Ratchet said as he continued working at his station in an attempt to find the Space Bridge.

Scene Change: Knockout Burger, Three Hours Later

As Jack rode up to the restaurant on his bike, he looked up at the sign and sighed. Hopping off, he pushed his bike to the bike rack and bent down to chain it, though he paused when he heard a familiar voice behind him say "Nice bike."

Turning around to see Arcee balanced on her two wheels in a way that no motorbike should be able to without a passenger, Jack sighed and said "Arcee, really. Miko already tried last night. Tell Optimus I respect him big time, but if you're at war with the Decepticons there's nothing I can do to help."

"Optimus didn't send me Jack, and no one's asking for your help." Arcee said, rolling a little closer.

"OK, so, if we both agree that I'm not warrior material..." Jack said, trailing off suggestively at the end.

Arcee gave a sigh and said "Jack, I don't know why, but it felt like there was some kind of connection being made between us yesterday, kind of like what I've got with Cliffjumper. But my not knowing the why doesn't prevent me from knowing that I'm not willing to just say good-bye."

Jack looked down at Arcee for a few heavy moments as he took in a deep breath, thoughts whirling through his mind.

Scene Change: Autobot Outpost

Ratchet studied his console for a moment before he gained a bittersweet smirk and said to himself "Found you." Louder, he called out "Optimus, I've pinpointed the location of Megatron's Space Bridge." Turning around, he continued "_High_ in Earth's orbit."

"Out of our reach." Optimus said as he, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper approached along with Raf and Miko.

"Ok, so you guys don't fly but can't you just ground bridge there?" Miko asked, pointing at said portal tunnel.

"The Ground Bridge has limited range." Ratchet said "Stretched all the way into orbit its vortex could snap. And scatter us to the stars."

"Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk." Optimus stated. Turning to start walking to the tunnel he continued "Reaching the Space Bridge first is our only means of stopping him."

It was at that point that Arcee pulled in with Jack riding her. As he got off of her, Jack gave everyone a sheepish look and said "Hey, guess whose back!"

Optimus gave him a subtle nod before he said "Autobots, prepare for departure."

Arcee turned into bot mode and asked "Where to?"

Miko ran over and said "The final frontier."

"Space?" Jack asked in surprise before he continued "I thought they didn't have any way to get there."

"They don't, not really." Raf said as he joined Miko and Jack.

Jack glanced up at Arcee and asked "Be seeing you?"

Arcee gave him a reassuring smile while Raf said "Be careful, 'Bee."

**"Don't worry Raf, I'll be back."** Bee reassured his charge.

"I'm so jealous!" Miko said and Bulkhead held his hand down at her as he said "Don't even think about following me."

"Cliffjumper." Pyrrha said and Cliffjumper turned and leaned over to be closer as he asked "Yeah Partner?"

Pyrrha grunted as she leveraged herself up into a seated position and said "If you don't manage to come back then I am going to be very upset with you."

Cliffjumper chuckled and carefully ruffled her hair with a finger and said "Don't worry, Pyrrha, we've got this, you just worry about regaining your strength."

As Cliffjumper walked to join the other 'Bots that were going Ratchet turned on the Ground Bridge and said "Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you."

"Until we meet again, Old Friend." Optimus said before he ordered "Autobots, roll out!" He shifted into vehicle mode, followed by the others and they charged down the tunnel as he called out Maximum Overdrive!" The increased speed would reduce the amount of time in the portal and thus the chances of it malfunctioning while they were in it.

When they came out of the Ground Bridge, it was to the sight of the massive Space Bridge before them and Optimus ordered "Autobots, transform and gravitize."*

As the group reached the Space Bridge, arcs of electricity came from their feet which magnetically brought them onto the surface. While most of the 'Bots landed smoothly, Bulkhead stumbled a bit, only his right foot reaching the deck of the bridge at first as he looked around worriedly and said "Don't look down. Or up. Or left."

Showing that the universe had a flair for dramatic timing, the Nemesis chose that time to show up and all of the Autobots turned towards it as it came to a stop. As it took position in front of the Space Bridge Arcee asked "So Megatron's packing enough Dark Energon to raise Cybertron's dead?"

"And since we don't possess ready means of disabling the Space Bridge, nothing gets in or out!" Optimus said, and all of them brought out their blasters that they pointed towards the ship.

On the bridge of the Nemesis, Megatron chuckled at the screen that showed the Autobots waiting for him and said "Optimus Prime never disappoints. Soundwave, status report."

_"In position, _**interfacing now.**" Soundwave sent through the ship speakers.

Back on the bridge, Arcee asked "Well, what are they waiting for?"

Optimus's optics narrowed as he zoomed his view onto a specific part of the ship and seeing sparks coming from a mount where a dish was SUPPOSED to be said "It appears the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system."

"Huh, that's my handiwork." Bulkhead said.

"Great job Bulkhead." Optimus praised the Wrecker before he continued "Without the dish, Megatron would be unable to aim the Space Bridge at Cybertron."

_"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?"_ Raf asked.

_"_Naturally, _but Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be _astronomically_ precise."_ Ratchet explained.

"If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his Space Bridge, he must have an alternative targeting system. A remote one." Optimus mused.

_"Hmm! From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."_ Ratchet stated.

_"What about a whole bunch of _linked_ radio telescope dishes? Like the giant sized array in Texas?"_ Raf asked.

_"Zip, ep, ep, ah! This is not child's play!"_ Ratchet said, clearly disbelieving that even those could work.

Optimus however disagreed as he said "Good thinking Raf." Continuing, he said "Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard."

As if hearing his name, Fowler's voice suddenly came over the radio and said _"You, soldier! You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!"_ There was the sound of his body thumping back on his gurney quickly followed by Pyrrha's tired but greatly amused laughter.

_"_THAT_ may be a challenge."_ Ratchet stated, quite bemused.

The sound of rapid typing came over the coms next before Raf complained "I can't get past the array's firewalls. They're too thick."

"You? _Actually think you could keep the Decepticons out?"_ Ratchet asked.

_"_Maybe_, if I could get in."_ Raf said, a shrug audible in his voice.

Jack piped in then as he said asked _"W-wait, Raf, what if we could get you all the way in? Like 'inside-the-building' in?"_

_"I could log into their internal network on the other side of the firewall." _Raf stated confidently.

"The risk is too great, the Decepticons would be there. Perhaps even on site."

_"Optimus, with all due respect you said it yourself, this is bigger than the safety of three humans."_ Jack said and Miko chimed in as she said _"Yeah, if we let the 'Cons win, we're fragged, along with everyone _else_ on our planet."_

After a moment, Optimus asked "Raf?"

_"I want to give it a shot."_ Raf stated.

There was a weary sigh and a grunt as Pyrrha stood up off of her gurney and said _"Then I better come with you."_

_"Ep, ep, ep! You're nowhere _close _to combat ready."_ Ratchet scolded.

"Indeed Partner, you're not exactly ready for any more rodeos." Cliffjumper said with a frown.

_"Raf's going to need protection, and all of the other 'Bots are currently up in space. I'm good enough to move with the wheelchair we have, I can probably handle a use or two of my Semblance, and there ain't nothing wrong with my gun."_ Pyrrha said firmly.

_"Wait, you have a gun?"_ Jack asked incredulously.

_"Is now really the time Jack?"_ Miko asked.

After a heavy moment Optimus said "As much as I wish otherwise, you raise a valid point Pyrrha. Very well, but take no unnecessary risks."

_"Understood."_ Pyrrha acknowledged.

Megatron had apparently decided that he had waited long enough to get the 'Bots off his Bridge because at that time flyer Vehicon Drones came pouring out of the ship towards them.

"Here comes the welcoming committee." Bulkhead said.

Scene Change: Texas Array

A Ground Bridge portal appeared inside the fence of the facility and the kids came out, Jack pushing Pyrrha in her wheel chair. Soon as they were out though, all three of the newbies to Ground Bridge travel groaned as they put a hand to their heads and swayed a little as Jack said "That'll take some getting used to."

"The effect gets a lot easier to deal with after the fifth use or so." Pyrrha said, giving them sympathetic looks.

"Great, so only three more times of feeling like we've been stretched apart then put back together." Jack said even as he pushed Pyrrha towards the building, Miko running ahead to the door in order to see if it was open.

Less than ten minutes later, they found a room with a computer station and while Pyrrha had Jack set her facing the door Raf quickly made for it. A minute after their arrival, Miko glanced out the door then came back as she said "Security sure is lax in this place."

"There might not be any except at the entrance gate. It's not like the relay's important for anything _down here_." Pyrrha suggested.

"Good point." Miko said with a nod.

"I'm in." Raf said before he frowned and added on "And so are the Decepticons."

"What?!" Jack asked followed by Miko who asked "How can you tell?"

Raf gestured at his monitor and said "Schematics. With the same alien math we saw on their ship. But this time, I can download it." With that said, he stuck his flash drive into one of the USB ports of the computer tower before going back to typing.

"It's got to be the Space Bridge." Miko said.

"The Decepticons are syncing it to the dishes - but I can sync to THEM." Raf said with determination.

"Would they know?" Jack asked.

"Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house." Raf said.

"And even if they do, that's what I'm here for, remember." Pyrrha said, hefting her Desert Eagle before placing it back in her lap, though she didn't let go of it.

"Right." Jack said, warily eyeing the large hand gun before he and Miko returned to watching Raf work.

Unfortunately, there WAS a physical Decepticon presence on site. Located in a room actually big enough for him to crouch in as well as with a large computer tower that controlled the movements of the dishes, Soundwave finished his work and the dishes raised into position.

Scene Change: In Space

The Autobots staggered as the Space Bridge began moving and Arcee asked "What just happened?"

"The Decepticons are locking onto Cybertron." Optimus stated.

"_Target locked."_ Soundwave sent.

"Finally!" Megatron said with a grin.

Scene Change: Array Installation

"They're locked on to Cybertron. But not for long." Raf said, rapidly typing which caused the radar dishes to drop back into their resting position.

Scene Change: In Space

As the Space Bridge abruptly stopped moving, then went in the opposite direction it had been, Bumblebee threw up his hands and said **"Way to go Raf!"**

"Indeed, Bumblebee, this can only be Raf's doing." Optimus said in agreement.

Megatron snarled when the Space Bridge changed directions and asked "Soundwave, what is happening?!"

Scene Change: Array Installation

Soundwave quickly pulled up the security cameras in a line on his visor and they quickly spun through until he landed on the room holding the kids. Seeing Pyrrha in the image, Soundwave allowed himself a brief moment of trepidation, remembering what he had witnessed the Huntress do before he noted how weak she looked, especially since she now seemed restricted to the wheelchair she was in. Then Soundwave saw something in the image that would have had him smirking if he had a regular face as he turned his visor towards the hardline and thought 'That'll do quite nicely I think.'

Raf frowned at what he was seeing on his screen and said "The dishes are heading back towards Cybertron. I guess I'll just undo that again."

"What happens when the 'Cons realize they are being punked?" Jack asked.

"It's only virtual combat, you know, like on-line gaming." Raf said.

"Yeah, Jack, what are the 'Cons gonna do? They're probably like a thousand miles away." Miko said flippantly.

Pyrrha paled and said "I REALLY wish you hadn't said that Miko."

"Huh, why?" Miko asked, her and Jack turning to her, and even Raf turning his head to look at her.

The next instant, Soundwave's tentacle smashed through the wall to their right, the claws on the end spinning like a drill as it tore through the computer tower and monitor before grabbing the axe on the opposite wall before pulling it through the holes it had just made in each wall seperating the Kids and the Con.

"THAT'S WHY!" Pyrrha called even as she used her polarity to rapidly spin her wheelchair wheels and shot out of the room (another use of her polarity flinging the door open hard enough to lodge the door knob into the plaster of the wall just before she could hit it), Jack and Miko running after her. Raf hung back just long enough to take his flash drive out of the destroyed tower, grateful that it had managed to survive the destruction before he ran out of the room as well.

Hearing rapid gun fire, he put on a burst of speed but skidded to a stop in between Jack and Miko at a pair of double doors, turning his head upwards like they were just in time to see a predator drone that was trailing a few thin streams of smoke flying straight up away from the building.

Looking down showed Pyrrha in the room heavily frowning as she ejected the spent magazine of her Desert Eagle and replacing it with another as she said somewhat needlessly "He got away."

"But why did he leave like that?" Miko asked with a frown.

Raf looked around before he scowled when he saw the sparking wire, the axe in between the cut ends and buried into the concrete floor of the room. Running over to it, he knelt and said "He cut the hard line. The dishes are locked on to Cybertron. For good."

"There's nothing more we can do here, let's get back to the base." Pyrrha said and the other three nodded their agreement.

Scene Change: In Space

Soundwave meanwhile kept his ascent up until he was good couple of dozen miles up before opening a Ground Bridge to the Nemesis' Medbay that was MUCH more stable than the one the Autobots used. When he turned back into bot mode, there were three bullet holes going down in a line where his visor met the metal of his head on the left side, and a line of six bullets going down his left arm, the bullets stuck a bare two inches beneath the surface

"Soundwave! What Happened?!" Knockout, the Decepticon's chief medic asked as he rushed over.

_"That particular gunman has a very itchy and fast trigger finger pardner."_ Soundwave said in the voice of an old western style cowboy.

"Wait, you mean these are _bullet holes_, as in from a _human_ weapon!? Who in the world managed to shoot you nine times before you got clear of them?!" Knockout asked even as he scanned Soundwave with one of his tools then grabbed a pair of tweezers to pull out the bullets that were caught behind the edge of his visor. Seriously, Soundwave was one of the fastest Decepticons out there in a fight, he was more than capable of getting out of the way of weapons fire if he saw it coming. Coincidentally, the communications chief was lucky that he had a reinforced metal plate behind the visor screen or he wouldn't be standing right now.

_"Take it from me bud, redheads are more trouble than they're worth."_ Soundwave said, this time using the voice of a father in a sitcom before his voice shifted into that of a geeky nerd that said "Railguns are the future man!"

Knockout blinked then snapped the fingers of his free hand as he said "Oh right, that human that is either telekinetic or uses magnetism." He then snorted and said "I still cannot _believe_ that the Autobots are working with her. What are the odds that they would have found a human who ACTUALLY has some kind of a superpower AND that said superpower was a perfect match against Cybertronians?"

_"Roughly 7,577,130,400 humans on Earth, __**times two for if they have a power or not,**__ so 1 in 15,154,260,800. __**Then double that for whether or not the power is useful against us making it 1 in 30,308,521,600.**__" _(30 Billion, 308 Million, 521 Thousand, 6 Hundred) Soundwave stated three seconds after Knockout asked his rhetorical question.

"Huh. You know, maybe the Autobots should go buy a human lottery ticket or dozen." Knockout mused to himself even as he continued tending to his patient.

Meanwhile, at the same time that Soundwave had returned to the ship, Megatron let out a victorious grin as his Space Bridge finished locking onto Cybertron and he immediately activated the massive machine. Shortly after, he rode a lift to the top of the Nemesis' hull with the massive chunk of Dark Energon on his shoulders and shouted "At Last!"

He threw the Dark Energon towards the Space Bridge portal. Down on said Space Bridge, Optimus looked up from where he had just killed another Vehicon Drone and upon seeing the flying Dark Energon tried to shoot it only to miss by a few microns.

The Dark Energon entered the portal and on the other side fell from orbit, the friction of Cybertron's atmosphere turning it into a falling star. As soon as it hit the ground purple lines ran across the surface of the planet, reaching from pole to pole. As the purple spread, corpses began rising up as from all the way above Earth Megatron called out "Arise, my legion!"

"So, how do we beat a whole _planet_ of the undead?" Bulkhead asked.

_"Optimus, I'm registering a rapidly expanding mass in their Space Bridge vortex. One with a peculiar energy signature, Dark Energon."_ Ratchet sent over the radio.

"Ratchet, we must destroy the Space Bridge. There's enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation. But we lack the firepower to ignite it." Optimus said, voice filled with determination even as he inwardly lamented having to destroy the only way back to the Autobot's home world.

_"If I knew how the Space Bridge was engineered, I might find a technical way of accomplishing that feat."_ Ratchet stated.

_"Um. Would schematics help?"_ Raf asked.

Ratchet gave a sigh audible over the radio and asked _"Optimus, I must say that the Space Bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain its destruction is the only option?"_

"I am afraid so." Optimus said.

Another sigh, followed by _"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour."_

"Autobots, take your positions, and follow Ratchet's lead." Optimus said before looking at where Megatron was flying towards him and continued "While I make my stand."

As the others ran, Cliffjumper narrowed his optics at the bucket head that had shot at his partner when she couldn't protect herself. Oh how he longed to take the axe from the battle with the Zombiecons that he had kept and bury it in Megatron's spark chamber. Instead, he said "Good luck Optimus." then turned around and took off after the others.

When Megatron was close enough, he transformed and landed as he said "Your fellow Autobots are wise Optimus, they know when to retreat."

"I hold no illusions about engaging your army, Megatron. But I might derail its objective-" Optimus stated, forming his right hand blade as he finished "by removing its head."

Megatron let out a menacing chuckle as he released his own blade and said "Highly unlikely, Optimus, as I am infused with their very might!"

"One shall stand, and one shall fall." Optimus intoned before he engaged Megatron in bladed combat with the approaching Zombiecon army serving as their backdrop.

Scene Change: Autobot Base

"These things are getting closer." A recovered Agent Fowler said, gesturing at the screen above him which showed multiple red dots that were traveling from one sphere to another through a representation of a tunnel before he looked back at Ratchet and said "That's bad, right?"

_"Ratchet, we're in position."_ Arcee said over the radio.

As Raf typed at the computer station highlighting a part in red on the main screen, Ratchet said "Arcee, pay close attention."

Scene Change: Back In Space

A patched up Soundwave walked onto the Nemesis' bridge, Knockout tagging along with him. Seeing the pair of officers, one of the Vehicon drones said "Sirs, you might want to see this."

When the pair walked over, they saw a real time view of the non Prime Autobots standing on a bottom section of the Space Bridge and the drone continued "They're near one of the flow regulators closest to one of the energon pumps."

Knockout put a hand to his chin and hummed as he said "Hmm, I'm no engineer, but I don't like the thought of them by anything with the words regulators or pumps in their names." Reaching forward with his hand, he pushed a button on the control panel and said "Lord Megatron."

"_Knockout, what_ **is it**?!" Megatron asked, his tone saying that this had BETTER be good.

Knockout glanced at the second image that showed Megatron about to slash down at an on his knees Optimus before looking back at the other image and said "Sorry to interrupt your fun My Lord, but it appears that the Autobots are up to some mischief, on the underside of the bridge."

_"Ah, misdirection, Optimus? You would have made a _fine_ Decepticon."_ Megatron said. The Decepticons watched on the bridge as Megatron brought his sword down only for it to be blocked by Optimus, this time on a thicker part of the blade so that way it wasn't sliced off like the thinner part had been earlier in the fight.

_"I chose my side."_ Optimus was heard saying thanks to the close proximity to the audio pickup of Megatron's communications equipment. Pushing Megatron's blade up, Optimus quickly stood up and turned his own blade into his blaster and hit Megatron in the torso, knocking him up into the 'air'. He fired more shots only for Megatron to dodge then transform.

As Megatron flew off to deal with the would-be saboteurs, he radioed _"Knockout, my army approaches. Have the Nemesis rendezvous with the Space Bridge for pick up."_

"Yes My Lord." Knockout said before he glanced at the helmsman and said "Well? You heard the man, begin bringing us closer!"

"Yes sir." The Vehicon stated, doing as told.

With the Autobots, Arcee was kneeling as Ratchet said _"Now follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump. There should be a valve."_

"I see it." Arcee confirmed, pushing a button which caused the valve pylon to rise up and a pair of handles to pop out of said pylon.

_"Good. To turn all that power against itself, all you need to do is reverse the current."_ Ratchet stated.

Arcee quickly turned the pylon one hundred and eighty degrees and said "Current reversed."

_"Yes!" _Agent Fowler shouted. A few moments of silence later, he asked _"Right?"_

_"I'll ready the ground bridge."_ Ratchet stated.

"Better make it fast Ratchet, we've got company coming." Cliffjumper said, pointing at the rapidly approaching Megatron before he formed his blasters and started shooting, the other Autobots doing the same.

Unfortunately, they were unable to hit Megatron as he passed from side to side before turning onto them and fired his own blasters. His third shot hit Arcee knocking her off of the Bridge and into space.

It was at that point that the Space Bridge started to destroy itself, sections of the bridge being blown off in small explosions. As the section in between Optimus and the portal began coming apart the Prime quickly turned and ran for the rim of the Bridge.

Megatron made his way to hover back in front of the portal. As soon as he arrived though, Knockout sent over the radio _"Lord Megatron, we're detecting explosions all over the Bridge, we have to pull back. I highly recommend you take flight as well."_

Soundwave contributed his agreement with that as Schwarzenegger called out _"GO! GET TO THE CHOPPER!"_

As Optimus ran away, Ratchet said _"Optimus, the ground bridge is ready and waiting!"_

"Autobots, JUMP!" Optimus ordered, jumping over the lip the Space Bridge now had and into the Ground Bridge Portal.

The Autobots did as told, Cliffjumper running up a spire and leaping off of it to grab Arcee. He was the last Autobot through and the Ground Bridge immediately closed behind him.

Megatron was meanwhile still in front of the portal, staring into it as he said "My Legion." A series of explosions had him looking around. Seeing the Space Bridge coming apart, Megatron looked back at the Zombiecons and said "No." As the lead Zombiecon reached forward, he did the same. Their fingers moved towards each other but the moment they touched, the Space Bridge finished detonating, going up in a massive ball of Energon fire that released a shockwave.

A shockwave that actually managed to reach the retreating Nemesis, though it caused no damage having run out of energy at that point.

On the bridge of said ship, Knockout solemnly said "As Chief Medical Officer of the Nemesis, I note for the Log Lord Megatron's Spark has been extinguished. Time of Death: 08:27:13 UTC, Earth Time." Looking at Soundwave, he said "Looks like you're calling the shots now, Boss."

Scene Change: Autobot Base

As Ratchet and the humans waited in front of the Ground Bridge, Raf looked up at Ratchet and asked "Do you think they're-?"

Ratchet looked at his right wrist which popped open displaying a screen that had five bars on it. As one lowered to the red, he said "Five life signals. One very faint."

A moment later, Optimus appeared hanging about five feet off the ground. He immediately dropped to the floor as gravity reclaimed him and walked out of the tunnel. Bulkhead was next followed by Bumblebee and Miko and Raf quickly went to their assigned bots. A moment later, Cliffjumper walked out, carrying Arcee in his arms.

Pyrrha quickly rolled her wheelchair over, Jack right beside her. As Cliffjumper lightly set Arcee onto the ground, he gave Pyrrha a smirk and said "See Partner, like I told you, all present and accounted for."

"Though you all clearly didn't get out of it without a scratch." Pyrrha said, pointing at where there was indeed a rather large scratch down Cliffjumper's left shoulder, the middle part actually going all of the way through the armor plate. Her eyes then flicked to Arcee.

Jack quickly moved to said two wheeler's side and asked "Arcee? Are you going to be alright?"

Arcee let out a weak chuckle and said "I'll be fine eventually. Though really Jack, there _are_ other motorcycles in the world you know."

"But you're my first." Jack said.

Pyrrha gave a short choking motion at how THAT phrase could be taken causing Cliffjumper to point at her face and laugh.

"Alright you two, let's have a look." Ratchet barked, breaking up the moment as he began scanning Arcee.

"Prime!" Agent Fowler called and everyone looked at where he was adjusting his tie in front of the elevator to the helipad. Once he finished with his tie, he continued "I didn't get to thank you 'Bots for the save. I owe you one. We all do."

As Fowler entered the elevator, Miko ran over to Optimus and looked up at him as she asked "So is this the part where you say good-bye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?"

Optimus stared down at Miko before his optics shifted to Pyrrha. The kids and 'Bots looked on as the pair of warriors had a silent conversation. Half a minute later, Pyrrha's lips twitched upwards slightly and she said "Jack, Miko, Raf, come here for a minute."

The kids traded looks of confusion before they moved to stand in front of Pyrrha, with Miko on her right, Jack in the middle, and Raf on the left. Pyrrha eyed them for a moment with solemn eyes before she said "What I am about to tell you does not leave the three of you, am I clear?"

The trio gave nods, Jack's more hesitant than Raf's and Miko's.

Pyrrha was silent for another second before she sighed and said "Before I met Cliffjumper a year ago, you would not have found me in any of this world's databases. This is because I am not originally from Earth. Instead, I'm from a planet called Remnant."

"Whoa, you're an alien?!" Miko asked with wide eyes.

Pyrrha nodded and said "That's right."

"H-how did you get here?" Jack asked.

"That, I'm not entirely sure about. I was greatly wounded in a battle against an invasion army then appeared inside Cliffjumper's vehicle mode, somehow completely healed. However, my current theory is that some higher being took my spirit and gave me a new body here, though for what purpose I don't know." Pyrrha said, looking down and putting her right hand over the spot Cinder had shot her with her arrow. Looking back up, she smiled and said "But my arrival into this world isn't what's being discussed here. Instead, I want to offer to unlock your Aura."

"What does that mean?" Raf asked.

"Back home, everyone has Aura, though it's usually not unlocked. However, those who train as Huntsmen will have theirs unlocked during training and in turn discover their Semblance, an ability unique to each person. On top of that, Aura not only acts as a shield around your body but can also passively augment it as well making you faster, stronger, and more durable."

"Wait, are you saying that you can help us get superpowers?!" Miko asked excitedly.

Pyrrha nodded and said "If you'll agree to let me, then yes."

"Of course I'll let you!" Miko said, sounding like she thought Pyrrha was crazy for thinking there was even a chance otherwise.

"Having a shield around our bodies does sound like a pretty good idea." Jack allowed and Raf nodded his agreement.

Pyrrha nodded as well and held up her hands as she said "Alright then, touch my hands with one of your own and I shall do so." Once the three kids had done as told, Pyrrha closed her eyes in concentration and then intoned "In times of great strife, we fight against the darkness. With souls unbound, we stand defiant. By each other's shoulders we guard the light, ready to show the world our might."**

There was a brief but bright flash of light and a moment later the Kids had a shimmering energy field that soon faded away. Miko's was pink, Jack's a light bluish green, and Raf's was a dark yellow.

"Whoa, I feel incredible!" Raf said, clenching and unclenching his hands.

"Yeah, no kidding, I feel like I could bench press a motorbike!" Miko said eagerly.

"This could take some getting used to." Jack mused to himself.

"Oh don't worry, I'll help you do so." Pyrrha promised, though the smile she gave as she said that took away any comfort the three might have taken from them. The trio felt a small chill go down their spines and they all wondered what they had just gotten themselves into.

Cliffjumper cackled and said "Oh, this should be fun to watch.

Optimus felt a thrum of amusement in his own Spark though he didn't give sign to it. An hour later, he sent an open message into the cosmos.

"WITHOUT A MEANS OF LEAVING THIS WORLD WE AUTOBOTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE BONDS WE HAVE FORGED WITH OUR THREE YOUNG FRIENDS. TRUE WARRIORS. IF NOT IN BODY THEN IN SPIRIT. MY NAME IS OPTIMUS PRIME, AND I SEND THIS MESSAGE: THOUGH WE DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE OF EARTH, IT WOULD SEEM THAT WE ARE HERE TO STAY. IF YOU APPROACH THIS PLANET WITH HOSTILE INTENT, KNOW THAT WE WILL DEFEND OURSELVES. WE WILL DEFEND HUMANITY. WE WILL DEFEND...**OUR HOME.**

END

Author's Notes: Alright, that's the pilot chapters for this story. As such, I can switch stories without feeling bad about leaving this one alone for a bit. I've got a quick writing project that I need to finish for DA but that shouldn't take more than a day or two. So let's spin the wheel and see what I'll work on after that...

Huh, would you look at that, Jack O Lantern. Well, guess y'all can look forward to more Transformers Prime content coming soon. For now though, this is Tac signing out.

*Optimus SHOULD have said Magnetize, but when everything in your home world is made out of metal...

**I know that's not what she said when she unlocked Jaune's Aura but two of the sentences talked about DYING so I gave her a phrase that I thought actually fit.


End file.
